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OUR UNITED STATES ARMY 



UNITED STATES ARMY 



BY 

HELEN S. WRIGHT 

UTHOR OF "THE GREAT WHITE NORTH." "THE VALLEY OF LEBANON." ETC. 



WITH AN INTRODUCTION 
By MAJOR-GENERAL LEONARD WOOD 




1917 



Copyrighted, 1917, by 
Robert J. Shores, Publisher 






IMPORTANT NEW BOOKS 

Dollars and Cents 

By Albert Pay son Terhune 

Bucking the Tiger 

By Achmed Abdullah 

The Master of Bonne Terre 

By William Antony Kennedy 

Heart Messages from the Trenches 
By Nellie Rosilla Taylor 

The Destiny of the United States 
By Snell Smith 

The Ancient Quest 

By Reginald Wright Kauffman 

The Drums and Other Poems 

By Walter Romeyn Benjamin 



/ 



MAY -4 1917 



©CI,A4G2245 



DEDICATION 

To those, whose heroic work, invaluable to the development 
of our Great Nation, is performed in silence and obscurity. 



INTRODUCTION 
By Major-General Leonard Wood 

Helen S. Wright has presented briefly and in com- 
pact form a summary of the Army's work in the devel- 
opment and building up of our country. 

Our people understand little of the Army's work aside 
from its purely military activities. The average citizen 
looks upon the Army simply as a destructive force, sel- 
dom appreciating that it is one of the strongest construc- 
tive forces we have ever had. 

The author begins with the early work of the Army, 
follows it through the Indian days, its various activities 
after the Civil War, and finally ends with briefly touching 
upon its constructive work in Cuba, Porto Rico, the Phil- 
ippines and Panama, emphasizing the fact that the 
foundation of the existing civil governments in Cuba, 
the Philippines and Panama were laid by soldiers, and 
that the foundation was so securely laid that the civil 
governments which followed had a comparatively easy 
task. 

In dealing with Panama, the importance of Reed's 
great discovery in Yellow Fever is brought out, a discov- 
ery which has made the western tropics a white man's 
country for all time through ridding it of its most 
dreaded scourge. A sincere tribute is paid not only to 
the great engineer who constructed the canal, but to the 
great sanitary work of Gorgas and his assistants, a work 

vii 



Vlll 



INTRODUCTION 



which made the other work possible, for had the old con- 
ditions of yellow fever and malaria prevailed, it is doubt- 
ful if the work could have been pushed through without 
such loss as would have paralyzed the best conceived 
plans and the most carefully thought out organization. 
Much might be added to this little volume, if space 
permitted, of the work of the Army in various minor 
fields of activity ; its work as a life saver and an advance 
agent of civilization. Enough has been said, however, 
to bring to the attention of the people the general con- 
structive work of the Army and the great part it has 
played in the nation's up-building. 




PREFACE 

It is my purpose to present in the following pages a 
few examples of the manifold activities of the Army of 
the United States, the importance and economic signifi- 
cance of which have been overshadowed by historians 
in the tragic drama and far-reaching results of our Na- 
tion's wars. 

It has only been possible to touch lightly and incom- 
pletely the high marks of this civil side of the Army's 
work, a subject which covers a wide range of time and 
country. 

At this hour it may be well to pause and consider what 
the Nation owes to its Army in the past; to remember 
that the onward march of progress and civilization in the 
Great West, in the face of Indian hostilities and depre- 
dations, was made possible only by that little force of 
armed soldiers that blazed the way and stood guard to 
protect the lives and property of our adventurous set- 
tlers, that the soldier's fair and just treatment of Indians 
has secured their lasting affection and regard, and many 
of the important ethnological studies of the plains tribes 
were made by officers of the Army. 

Since the beginning of our history, the Army has been 
engaged actively in forwarding the progressive work of 
administration and government ; during and after the 
Mexican War in occupying and forming governments in 
the territories acquired from Mexico. 

The Civil War trained millions of young men of high 

ix 



X PREFACE 

spirit in aggressive action, not only against men but 
against the forces of nature, and these men, who had 
built railroads, bridges and roads in the theatre of active 
operations, were turned loose into the West at the end, to 
push forward the transcontinental railways and the fron- 
tier with a new energy and ability that nothing could 
hinder nor stop. 

No mention has been made in this volume of the valu- 
able explorations in the Arctic, because these records and 
that of the "Farthest North" made by Brainard and 
Lockwood in 1882, are to be found in the author's pre- 
vious book, "The Great White North," and a repetition 
of these stories of heroic adventure and brilliant scien- 
tific work seemed inadvisable. 

There is the proud record of the Army's prompt action 
in abnormal times of fire, flood, and earthquake, notably 
in the relief work in San Francisco in 1906. 

Since the Spanish War made the United States a world 
power, the Army has led the way in the government of 
dependencies — in Porto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines. 
It has spread the means of communication over Alaska, 
and explored and mapped it. 

The reading public is familiar with the magnificent 
work of the Army surgeons in driving yellow fever out 
of Cuba and Panama; in waging a successful campaign 
against uncinariasis in Porto Rico, and being pioneers in 
anti-typhoid vaccination; in ridding Cuba and the Phil- 
ippines of smallpox and controlling cholera. Its per- 
sistent efforts have made sanitation in Cuba, Panama, 
and the Philippines one of the most important of govern- 
mental functions. 

If I have seemingly slighted the greatest achievement 
in engineering skill of all history, the building of the 
Panama Canal, it is because that is a single instance 



PREFACE 



XI 



where the nation has taken an active and appreciative 
attitude toward the masterly minds that successfully 
accomplished this stupendous undertaking. 

The Army of the United States has struggled hard for 
proper maintenance and development for many years. 
The innate prejudice of our citizens against a military 
establishment, commensurate with the size of our nation, 
has wrought havoc with any form of a military policy 
in the United States. 

It is the purpose of this book to awaken a better under- 
standing of what the Army has accomplished in the past, 
what it maintains for the present, and the high standard 
of honest administration and unswerving loyalty which 
at all times and under all conditions have been its unfail- 
ing characteristics. 

For the most part my material has been gathered from 
the archives of the War Department, from official re- 
ports, diaries and field journals of offices, from autobi- 
ographies and memoires. 

I wish to make acknowledgment to the several publish- 
ers who graciously permitted me to quote from the fol- 
lowing books : to G. P. Putnam's Sons for citations from 
"The Plains of the Great West," by the late Colonel 
Richard Irving Dodge; to D. Appleton and Company 
for quotations from General Forsyth's "Story of a Sol- 
dier," and General Gorgas' "Sanitation in Panama" ; to 
the Editor of the Atlantic Monthly for an account of 
the Utah Expedition ; to the Baker-Taylor Company for 
a citation from the "Autobiography of General Howard" ; 
to McClure, Phillips and Company for a paragraph from 
the "Life of Walter Reed"; to Doubleday, Page and 
Company for a citation from Frederick Haskins' "Pan- 
ama Canal"; to the Saalfield Publishing Company for 
material from "Personal Recollections of General Nel- 



xii PREFACE 

son A. Miles," and to Mr. John Barrett for a citation on 
Panama. I also wish to thank the many friends who 
made it possible for me to secure the material for which 
I was in search. 

Helen S. Wright. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction by Major-General Leonard Wood . . . . vii 
Preface by Helen S. Wright ix 

CHAPTER 

I Lewis and Clark Expedition 1 

II Explorations of Pike, Long and Bonneville ... 8 

III Fremont and His Adventures 18 

IV Domestic Disturbances 31 

V Indian Treaties and Warfare 43 

VI Lieutenant Whipple's Surveys and Adventures . 61 

VII Gold and the Early Days of California .... 72 

VIII Trouble in Kansas and the Mormon Problem . . 17 

IX Exploration of the Colorado River 112: 

X Building of the Transcontinental Railroads . . 142 

XI The Reconstruction of the South 165 

XII Alaska 188 

XIII Cuba and the Philippines 217 

XIV Eradication of Disease By Army Medical Staff . 245 
XV The Panama Canal ...» 265 



OUR 
UNITED STATES ARMY 

CHAPTER I 
Lewis and Clark Expedition 

The Continental Army had hardly been disbanded at 
the close of the American Revolution, before the immedi- 
ate necessity of a Regular Army to act as guards of 
peace became a momentous question to the American 
people. 

Measures were taken without delay to raise a body of 
700 troops, properly officered for "securing and protect- 
ing the Northwestern frontiers, to defend the settlers 
on the land belonging to the United States from the 
depredations of the Indians and to prevent unwarrant- 
able intrusion thereon, and for guarding the public 
stores." Hardly had this small body of men been scat- 
tered along the outlying districts, when what is known 
as Shay's Rebellion proved to the Federal Government 
the necessity of enlarging its military force. 

Under the leadership of Daniel Shay, some two 
thousand insurgents, whose grievances consisted of a 
demand for paper as a legal tender, and in a determined 
resistance to taxation under the State laws, after forcing 
the adjournment of the Supreme Court then sitting at 

1 



2 OUR UNITED STATES 

Worcester, Massachusetts, assailed the Springfield 
Arsenal, where they were met by a prompt and vigorous 
resistance by General Shepherd then in command. With 
no Federal troops available, quiet and order were not 
restored until some four thousand militia under General 
Lincoln had been called into service by the Governor of 
Massachusetts. 

Under the Act of August 9, 1789, Congress established 
the War Department and assigned to its control : 1st, 
All military commissioners ; 2nd, The land Naval forces ; 
ships and warlike stores of the government ; 3rd, All 
matters, generally pertaining to military and naval affairs ; 
4th, The distribution of "bounty lands" to all soldiers 
and ex-soldiers entitled thereto ; 5th, Indian affairs ; 6th, 
And all such duties connected with these affairs as might 
be assigned to the Department by the President as Com- 
mander in Chief of the Army and Navy. So broad 
was the scope of its operations that it practically com- 
bined the three executive departments now under the 
separate heads of War, Navy and Interior. 

One of the earliest and important labors of the De- 
partment and one which had been especially provided 
for by the Constitution, was the establishment of "an 
uniform militia throughout the United States." After 
much dispute in both Houses of Congress, the plans, 
with some modifications, submitted by Secretary Knox 
became a law May 8, 1792. Although each state was 
supposed to assume individual responsibility in the 
organizing of its militia, the War Department was con- 
stantly called upon and responded to the demand for 
supply arms, instruction and general guidance. 

Until March 3, 1799, the Secretary of the Treasury 
had made "all purchases and contracts for supplying 
the army with provisions, clothing, supplies in quarter- 



ARMY 3 

master's department, military stores, Indian goods, and 
all other supplies for the use of the department of war." 
This division of authority had caused such disastrous 
complications, especially in the mismanagement by the 
Treasury Department in the matter of supplying Gen- 
eral St. Clair in his campaign in the Northwest, to which 
his failure was indirectly due, that this authority was 
very properly transferred to the Secretary of War. 

In the year 1793 the first of our sea coast defenses 
and harbor fortifications had occupied the energies of 
skilled engineers appointed for this purpose and who 
later were organized by Congress into that branch of the 
Service known as the Corps of Artillerists and Engineers 
and later the Corps of Engineers. From Maine to the 
Gulf of Mexico, from Lower California to the Arctic 
Circle, and in our Insular Possessions, are now estab- 
lished a chain of important fortifications with their pow- 
erful armaments, vast extent of public highways, im- 
provements in navigable rivers, harbors, gulfs and lakes, 
and the engineering feat of the century, the construction 
of the Panama Canal ; all of great value to the extension 
of our commerce throughout the Republic. 

On the 20th of December, 1803, the complex and pro- 
longed wrangle over the Louisiana Purchase had resulted 
in the acquiring by the United States, that vast area of 
some 883,072 square miles of territory now covered by 
the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Ne- 
braska, the Dakotas, portions of the States of Minnesota, 
Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma and Indian 
Territory. 

Before it became part of the United States, the jealous 
disposition of the Spaniards and French had debarred 
all adventure for discoveries. Immediately upon its 
acquisition by our Government, President Jefferson took 



4 OUR UNITED STATES 

prompt measures for an expedition of exploration, its 
chief object being to aid commerce and population. 

The inception of this remarkable enterprise was of 
long standing with the president; twice he had promul- 
gated his cherished scheme and he has recorded the 
gradual development and eventual fruition of his hopes 
in an interesting sketch of the life and character of Cap- 
tain Meriwether Lewis. 

"In 1792," writes Jefferson, "I proposed to the Amer- 
ican Philosophical Society that we should set on foot a 
subscription to engage some competent person to explore 
that region in the opposite direction; that is, by ascend- 
ing the Missouri, crossing the Stony mountains, and de- 
scending the nearest river to the Pacific. 

"In 1803 the act for establishing trading houses with 
Indian tribes being about to expire, some modifications of 
it were recommended to Congress by a confidential mes- 
sage of January 19, and an extension of its views to the 
Indians on the Missouri. In order to prepare the way, 
the message proposed the sending an exploring party to 
trace the Missouri to its source, to cross the Highlands, 
and follow the best water communication which offered 
itself from thence to the Pacific Ocean. Congress ap- 
proved the proposition, and voted a sum of money for 
carrying it into execution. Captain Lewis, who had then 
been nearly two years with me as private secretary, im- 
mediately renewed his solicitations to have the direction 
of the party. I had now had opportunities of knowing 
him intimately. Of courage undaunted; possessing a 
firmness and perseverance of purpose which nothing but 
impossibilities could divert from its direction ; careful as 
a father of those committed to his charge, yet steady in 
the maintenance of order and discipline; intimate with 
the Indian character, customs, and principles ; habituated 



ARMY 5 

to the hunting Hfe; guarded, by exact observation of the 
vegetables and animals of his own country, against losing 
time in the description of objects already possessed; hon- 
est, disinterested, liberal, of sound understanding, and a 
fidelity to trust so scrupulous that whatever he should 
report would be as certain as if seen by ourselves, — with 
all these qualifications, as if selected and implanted by 
nature in one body for this express purpose, I could have 
no hesitation in confiding the enterprise to him. . . . 
Deeming it necessary he should have some person with 
him of known competence to the direction of the enter- 
prise, in the event of accident to himself, he proposed 
William Clarke, brother of General George Rogers 
Clarke, who was approved and, with that view, received 
a commission of captain." 

Their company consisted of about thirty men including 
soldiers, hunters and guides. They ascended the Mis- 
souri in the Spring of 1804. They passed the Winter 
among the Mandans, and pushed on early the next 
Spring, reaching the sources of the Missouri River. 

In August, 1805, Lieutenant Clarke makes the follow- 
ing entry in his journal: 

"We proceeded on in the boats, as the river was very 
shallow and rapid, the navigation is extremely difficult, 
and the men who are almost constantly in the water are 
getting feeble and sore, and so much worn down by 
fatigue that they are very anxious to commence travelling 
by land. We went along the main channel which is on 
the right side ; and, after passing nine bends in that 
direction, three islands and a number of bayous, reached 
at the distance of five and a half miles the upper point 
of a large island. At noon there was a storm of thun- 
der, which continued about half an hour, after which 
we proceeded; but as it was necessary to drag the 



6 OUR UNITED STATES 

canoes over the shoals and rapids, made but little 
progress. 

"On leaving the island we passed a number of short 
bends, several bayous, and one run of water on the right 
side; and, having gone by four small and two large 
islands, encamped in a smooth plain to the left near a 
few Cottonwood trees. Our journey by water was just 
twelve miles, and four in a direct line. The hunters 
supplied us with three deer and a fawn." 

After crossing the mountains Lewis and Clarke em- 
barked on one of the branches of the Columbia and on 
November 15 reached the Pacific at the mouth of that 
great river, having travelled over 4,000 miles. They 
wintered on the shores of the Pacific where they would 
have starved but for the food a stranded whale afforded 
them. They were utterly unable to send tidings home 
by way of either Cape Horn or the Cape of Good 
Hope. Years after a notice posted at this desperate time 
and written in the face of imminent starvation found its 
way by way of Canton, China, back to civilization at 
last to Philadelphia. It read : 

"The object of this notice is, that through the medium 
of some civilized person who may see the same, it may 
be made known to the informed world that the party con- 
sisting of the persons whose names are hereunto annexed 
and who were sent out by the Government of the United 
States, in May, 1804, to explore the interior of the Conti- 
nent of North America, did penetrate the same by way 
of the Missouri and Columbia Rivers to the discharge 
of the latter into the Pacific Ocean, where they arrived 
on the 14th of November, 1805, and from whence they 
departed the (23rd) day of March, 1806, on their return 
to the United States by the same route they had come 
out." 



ARMY 7 

They reached St. Louis the following September, after 
an absence of two years and four months. 

A most significant incident in the return journey was 
the meeting of a party of emigrants, the forerunners 
of our present western civilization, already making their 
toilsome way along the trail so recently blazed. 

We have Jefferson's recommendation and testimony of 
the value of this enterprise. 

"The expedition of Messrs. Lewis and Clarke for ex- 
ploring the River Missouri and the best communication 
from that to the Pacific Ocean has had all the success 
which could be expected. They have traced the Missouri 
nearly to its source; descended the Columbia to the 
Pacific Ocean, ascertained with accuracy the geography 
of that interesting communication across the continent, 
learnt the character of the country, its commerce and 
inhabitants, and it is but justice to say, that Messrs. 
Lewis and Clarke and their brave companions have by 
this arduous service deserved well of their country. 

"Th. Jefferson." 



CHAPTER II 
Explorations of Pike, Long and Bonneville 

During the absence of Captain Lewis and Lieutenant 
Clarke a contemporaneous expedition was directed by 
General Wilkinson, U. S. A., then in command of the 
Mississippi, for the exploration of the sources of that 
great river. Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike, a 
young and enthusiastic officer was detailed for this special 
work. He was accompanied by a sergeant, two corporals 
and a squad of seventeen privates. 

His general instructions were to make treaties with the 
Indians living along the great avenue to the northwest, 
to purchase land at the mouth of the St. Croix River, 
from the Sioux tribe, for a government military post, 
and incidentally to gather as much scientific information 
of a general character as was compatible with his equip- 
ment and education. Leading this small band into a 
dangerous and unexplored region, peopled by treacher- 
ous Indians, unassisted by a subordinate, officer who 
could share the responsibilities of so hazardous an under- 
taking, Lieutenant Pike ''literally performed the duties 
of astronomer, surveyor, commanding officer, clerk, spy, 
guide and hunter." 

Leaving St. Louis, August 9, 1805, with provisions for 
four months, he ascended the Mississippi in a keel boat, 
seventy-five feet in length, the first trip of its kind made 
by any citizen of the United States. His advance, 

8 



ARMY 9 

barring accidents and delays was from twenty-five to 
thirty miles a day; his greatest embarrassments arose 
from the numerous channels which are formed by the 
many islands in the river, and without experienced guides 
it was a problem to choose the right one. 

By the 20th of August, Lieutenant Pike had reached 
the Des Moines Rapids, covering eleven miles of danger- 
ous and successive shoals extending from shore to shore. 
The Rock River Rapids were passed a week later and 
the Dubuque mines by the first of September. 

Lieutenant Pike's Winter quarters were established 
about two hundred and thirty-five miles above the Falls 
of St. Anthony, where his boats and extra baggage were 
stored under a suitable guard. The rest of the party 
continued less hampered and in better condition to meet 
the advancing season. 

On the 22nd of December, Lieutenant Pike makes 
entry in his journal: 

"Never did I undergo more fatigue in performing the 
duties of hunter, spy, guide, and commanding officer, 
sometimes in front, sometimes in the rear, frequently 
in advance of my party ten or fifteen miles." Four days 
later he "broke four sleds, broke into the river four times, 
and had four carrying places," — advancing three miles. 

On January 20 Lieutenant Pike reached a Brit- 
ish trading establishment at Leech Lake, which was 
then supposed to be the source of the great river, where 
his footsore and weary soldiers were met by a kindly 
and hospitable welcome. Here he addressed a letter to 
M'Gelles, the manager of the North West Company of 
that section, in which he stated the views of the United 
States government and the conditions under which trade 
with the Indians might be properly conducted within the 
acknowledged boundaries of the United States. He 



10 OUR UNITED STATES 

required that the flag of our government and no other 
should be hoisted within the same and these conditions 
were met with a seemingly friendly spirit on the part 
of the traders. Lieutenant Pike also held counsel with 
the Indians to similar purpose, although he fully real- 
ized that the sovereignty of the United States could not 
be permanently respected without established military 
outposts, in a section of the country where traders of 
a foreign nation found it to their advantage in trading 
to weaken respect for the United States authority. 

Upon his return Lieutenant Pike recommended to his 
superiors the adoption of an effectual and permanent 
guard. 

Having accomplished his mission with dignity and 
consummate tact, Lieutenant Pike soon after retraced his 
steps and after an absence of nearly nine months 
returned to St. Louis, April 30, 1806. 

So successfully had Lieutenant Pike performed the 
duties assigned to him that he was ordered by General 
Wilkinson upon a second expedition, the primary object 
of which was to restore certain captives of the Osage 
tribe, recently recovered from the Pottawatomies to their 
homes on the Grand Osage. Lieutenant Pike was also 
instructed to establish permanent peace between the 
Osage and Kansas Indians, and a third object was, 
according to General Wilkinson's orders, "to effect an 
interview and establish a good understanding with the 
Yanctons, Tetans, or Camanches," in the locality of the 
Arkansas and Red Rivers, "approximated to the settle- 
ments of New Mexico," where he was instructed "to 
move with great circumspection, to keep clear of any 
hunting or reconnoitering parties from that province, 
and to prevent alarm or offence." 

A lieutenant, one sergeant, two corporals, sixteen pri- 



ARMY 11 

vates, and an interpreter composed the military escort. 
Dr. Robinson, a professional man of great ability, volun- 
teered his services, and with fifty-one Osage and Pawnee 
Indians, this party embarked at St. Louis, July 15, 1806, 
and proceeded up the Missouri in two large boats. 
Lieutenant Pike travelled through what is now Kansas 
and Colorado. This approach to the great mountain 
that bears his name and stands as a monument to his 
valor and forceful personality is best told by extracts 
from his field journal : 

"Saturday, November 15 (1806).— Marched early. 
Passed two deep creeks and many high points of rocks; 
also large herds of buffaloes. At two o'clock in the 
afternoon, I thought I could distinguish a mountain to 
our right, which appeared like a small blue cloud ; viewed 
it with the spy glass, and was still more confirmed in 
my conjecture, yet only communicated it to Dr. Robin- 
son, who was in front with me, but in half an hour it 
appeared in full view before us. When our small party 
arrived on the hill they with one accord gave three cheers 
to the Mexican mountains. Their appearance can easily 
be imagined by those who have crossed the Alleghany, 
but their sides . were white as if covered with snow or 
white stone. These proved to be a spur of the grand 
western chain of mountains which divide the waters of 
the Pacific from those of the Atlantic Ocean, and divide 
the waters which empty into the bay of the Holy Spirit 
from those of the Mississippi, as the Alleghany do those 
that discharge themselves into the latter river and the 
Atlantic. They appeared to present a boundary between 
the province of Louisiana and North Mexico, and would 
be a fork on the south side S. 25° W., and, as the Span- 
ish troops appeared to have borne up it, we encamped 
on its banks, about one mile from its confluence, that we 



12 OUR UNITED STATES 

might make further discoveries on the morrow. Dis- 
tance advanced twenty-four miles. 

"Saturday, November 22. — March early, and with 
rather more caution than usual. After having proceeded 
about five miles on the prairie, and as those in front were 
descending into the bottom, Baroney cried out, 'Voila un 
sauvage,' when we observed a number of Indians run- 
ning from the woods towards us. We advanced towards 
them, and, on turning my head to the left, I observed 
several running on the hill, as it were to surround us, 
one of them bearing a stand of colors. This caused a 
momentary halt, but perceiving those in front reaching 
out their hands, and without arms, we again advanced. 
They met us with open arms, crowding around to touch 
and embrace us. They appeared so anxious that I dis- 
mounted from my horse, and in a moment a fellow had 
mounted him and driven off. I then observed the Doctor 
and Barony in the same predicament. The Indians were 
embracing the soldiers. After some time tranquillity was 
so far restored, they having returned our horses all safe, 
as to enable us to learn they were a war party from the 
Grand Pawnees, who had been in search of the Tetans, 
but, not finding them, were now on their return. An 
unsuccessful war party on their way home are always 
ready to embrace an opportunity of gratifying their 
disappointed vengeance on the first persons they 
meet. 

"We made for the woods and unloaded our horses, 
when the two leaders endeavored to arrange the party; 
it was with great difficulty they got them tranquil and 
not until there had been a bow or two bent on the occa- 
sion. When in some order, we found them to be sixty 
warriors, half with fire arms, and half with bows, arrows 
and lances. Our party was in all, sixteen. In a short 



ARMY 13 

time they were arranged in a ring, and I took my seat 
between the two leaders; our colors were placed oppo- 
site each other, the utensils for smoking, etc., being pre- 
pared on a small seat before us. Thus far all was well. 
I then ordered half a carrot of tobacco, one dozen knives, 
sixty fire steels, and sixty flints to be presented to them. 
They demanded corn, ammunition, blankets, kettles, etc., 
all of which they were refused, notwithstanding the 
pressing instances of my interpreter to accede to some 
points. The pipes yet lay unmoved, as if they were 
undetermined whether to treat us as friends or as ene- 
mies, but after some time we were presented with a 
kettle of water, drank, smoked, and ate together. 

"Monday, November 24. — After giving the necessary 
orders for the government of my men, during my 
absence, in case of our not returning, we marched at 
one o'clock with an idea of arriving at the foot of the 
mountain, but found ourselves obliged to take up our 
lodging this night under a single cedar, which we found 
in the prairie, without water, and extremely cold. Our 
party, beside myself, consisted of Dr. Robinson and Pri- 
vates Miller and Brown. Distance advanced twelve 
miles. 

"Wednesday, November 26. — Expecting to return to 
our camp that evening, we left all our blankets and pro- 
visions at the foot of the mountain. Killed a deer of a 
new species, and hung his skin on a tree with some meat. 
We commenced ascending; found the way very difficult, 
being obliged to climb up rocks sometimes almost perpen- 
dicular, and after marching all day we encamped in a 
cave without blankets, victuals, or water. We had a fine 
clear sky, whilst it was snowing at the bottom. On the 
side of the mountain (Cheyenne Mountain) we found 
only yellow and pitch pine; some distance up we saw 



14 OUR UNITED STATES 

buffalo and higher still, the new species of deer and 
pheasants. 

"Thursday, November 27. — Arose hungry, thirsty, and 
extremely sore from the unevenness of the rocks on 
which we had lain all night, but we were amply com- 
pensated for our toil by the sublimity of the prospects 
below. The unbounded prairie was overhung with 
clouds, which appeared like the ocean in a storm, were 
piled wave on wave, and foaming, while the sky over 
our heads was perfectly clear. Commenced our march 
up the mountain, and in about one hour arrived at the 
summit of this chain; here we found the snow middle 
deep, and discovered no sign of beast or bird inhabiting 
this region. The thermometer, which stood at 9° above 
at the foot of the mountain, here fell to 4° below. The 
summit of the Grand Peak, which was entirely bare of 
vegetation, and covered with snow, now appeared at the 
distance of fifteen or sixteen miles from us, and as high 
again as that we had ascended ; it would have taken a 
whole day's march to have arrived at its base, when, I be- 
lieve, no human being could have ascended to its summit. 
This, with the condition of my soldiers, who had only 
light overalls on, and no stockings, and were every 
way ill-provided to endure the inclemency of this region, 
and bad prospect of killing anything to subsist on, with 
the further detention of two or three days which it must 
occasion, determined us to return. The clouds from be- 
low had now ascended the mountain, and entirely envel- 
oped the summit on which rest eternal snows. We 
descended by a long deep ravine with much less difficulty 
than we had contemplated. Found all our baggage safe, 
but the provision all destroyed. It began to snow, and 
we sought shelter under the side of a projecting rock, 
where we all four made a meal on one partridge and a 



ARMY 15 

pair of deer's ribs, which the ravens had left us, being 
the first food we had eaten for forty-eight hours. 

"Friday, November 28. — Marched at nine o'clock. 
Kept straight down the creek to avoid the hills. At half 
past one o'clock shot two buflfaloes, when we made the 
first full meal we had eaten for three days. Encamped 
in a valley under a shelving rock. The land here was 
very rich, and covered with old Tetan camps. 

"Saturday, November 29. — Marched after a short 
repast, and arrived at our camp before night. Found 
all well. 

"Sunday, November 30. — We commenced our march 
at eleven o'clock, it snowing very fast, but my impatience 
to be moving would not permit me to lie still at our 
present camp. . . . 

"Monday, December 1. — The storm still continuing 
with violence, we remained encamped. The snow by 
night was one foot deep, our horses being obliged to 
scrape it away to obtain their miserable pittance. To in- 
crease their misfortunes, the poor animals were attacked 
by magpies, which, attracted by the scent of their sore 
backs, alighted on them, and in defiance of the whinny- 
ing and kicking, picked many places quite raw ; the diffi- 
culty of procuring food rendered these birds so bold 
as to light on our men's arms and eat meat out of their 
hands. One of our hunters was out, but killed nothing." 

The advance of the little party was beset by increasing 
embarrassments, with the advance of winter, food and 
game became scarce, and the condition of animals and 
men more and more deplorable. 

Lieutenant Pike divided his party, placing himself and 
the strongest in the lead, in the hope that by caching 
meat as it was secured, the weaker ones could come up 
more slowly and still find sustenance. 



16 OUR UNITED STATES 

Several days were consumed in finishing this work, 
when Dr. Robinson, in pursuance of a previously 
arranged scheme, set out alone for Santa Fe. This 
extraordinary journey, undertaken in such an unpro- 
tected manner, and without any distinct idea of the bear- 
ing and distance of that place from Lieutenant Pike's 
present encampment, showed a spirit of enterprise and 
hardihood, that rendered Dr. Robinson a worthy coadju- 
tor of his principal in this perilous expedition. It 
appears, from a note of explanation by Lieutenant Pike 
in his journal, that a claim on some merchant of Santa 
Fe had been put into his hands to collect, should a fitting 
opportunity for doing so occur. It was transferred to 
Dr. Robinson, who was to make it a pretext for a visit 
to the place, and a cover for observing its trade and 
resources for the benefit of his countrymen. 

While Lieutenant Pike was thus engaged, and when on 
a short hunting range, with only one man in company, 
he was unexpectedly encountered by two horsemen, with 
whom, as it was too late to avoid them, he, after much 
shyness on their part, opened a parley. They proved to 
be a Spanish dragoon and a civilized Indian, from Santa 
Fe, who informed him that Dr. Robinson had reached 
that place in safety, and had been kindly treated by the 
Governor there. They showed a determination to ascer- 
tain where his camp was, and being under an impression 
it was on the Red River, and, of course, within the 
acknowledged boundaries of the United States, he 
thought it best to conduct them to it without hesitation. 

Passing through San Antonio, crossing the Brazos and 
the Trinity, and continuing his route by way of Nacog- 
doches, he reached Natchitoches on the first of July, 
1807, having been absent on his tour nearly one year. 

Long's expedition in the years 1819-20 was another 



ARMY 17 

of the early explorations redounding to the credit of the 
Army. This young officer with his company penetrated 
to the region of the Colorado, and his name is per- 
petuated to fame in the mountain he discovered. 

In the year 1832 Captain Bonneville, U. S. A., obtained 
an indefinite leave of absence for the purpose of study- 
ing the Indian in his native haunts. In company with 
one hundred and ten men he journeyed to the remote 
region of the Rocky Mountains, ostensibly as a fur trader 
in search of a fortune. There he lived among the Nez 
Perces, the Flatheads and other native tribes five years. 

Upon his return east the manifest necessity of estab- 
lishing military posts and a mounted force to protect 
traders in the very heart of the western "wilderness" 
was already occupying the energies of Congress. These 
early explorations of adventurous Army officers blazed 
the trail and opened the flood gate for the oncoming 
tide of civilization. 



CHAPTER III 
Fremont and His Adventures 

Fremont's career began in 1833, when he obtained a 
commission as professor of mathematics in the Navy and 
his first assignment was to the Frigate Independence. 

An Act of Congress was passed April 30, 1824, author- 
izing the President to employ two or more skilful civil 
engineers and such officers of the corps of army engineers 
as he might think proper, for necessary survey plans and 
estimates of the routes of such roads and canals as he 
might deem of material importance in a commercial or 
military point of view, for the transporting of the public 
mail. 

Resigning his commission in the navy, Fremont was 
appointed to this special work. July 7, 1838, he was com- 
missioned second lieutenant of the topographical engi- 
neers in the Army of the United States. The explora- 
tion and survey of the vast region north of the Missouri 
and west of the Mississippi was deemed advisable by 
the Administration and young Fremont was detailed to 
accompany Mr. Nicholet, a distinguished astronomer 
and member of the French Academy. The years 1838 
and 1839 were spent in the field, and the whole country 
was explored up to the British line. In the course of 
these surveys there were seventy thousand meteorologi- 
cal observations and the topography was minutely de- 
termined by the calculations at innumerable points. The 

18 



ARMY 19 

map thus constructed has been the source from which 
all subsequent ones relating to that region have been 
derived. 

In the Spring of 1841, Lieutenant Fremont went in 
command of a small party to survey the Des Moines 
River. This was but the beginning of his extraordinary 
career and the expeditions which followed are thrilling 
narratives of the explorer's adventures. 

The first expedition of Lieutenant Fremont, in com- 
mand of an exploring party on a large scale, occupied 
the Summer of 1842, and embraced the country between 
the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains, along the 
line of the Kansas and the Great Platte, or Nebraska 
River. 

Describing the first meeting with the great herds of 
western buffalo Fremont says: 

"A few miles brought us into the midst of the buffalo, 
swarming in immense numbers over the plains, where 
they had left scarcely a blade of grass standing. . . . 
In the sight of such a mass of life, the traveller feels a 
strange emotion of grandeur. We had heard from a 
distance a dull and confused murmuring, and, when we 
came in view of their dark masses, there was not one 
among us who did not feel his heart beat quicker. It 
was the early part of the day, when the herds are feed- 
ing, and everywhere they were in motion. Here and 
there a huge old bull was rolling in the grass, and clouds 
of dust rose in the air from various parts of the bands, 
each the scene of some obstinate fight. Indians and buf- 
falo made the poetry and life of the prairie, and our 
camp was full of their exhilaration. In place of the 
quiet monotony of the march, relieved only by the crack- 
ing of the whip, and an 'avance done! enfant de grace!' 
shouts and songs resounded from every part of the line 



20 OUR UNITED STATES 

and our evening camp was always the commencement of 
a feast, which terminated only with our departure on the 
following morning. At any time of the night might be 
seen pieces of the most delicate and choicest meat, roast- 
ing en appolas, on sticks around the fire, and the guard 
were never without company. . . . Astronomical obser- 
vations placed us in longitude 100° 05' 47", latitude 40° 
49' 55"." 

Ascending the South Fork, they reached St. Vrain's 
Fort, at the foot of the mountains about seventeen miles 
from Long's Peak, and thence to Fort Laramie. Here 
Fremont learned that some eight hundred Indian lodges 
were contemplating hostilities upon the whites. He was 
warned by the Indians not to proceed and his men, 
including the daring Kit Carson, advised him of the im- 
prudence of continuing the journey while the Indians 
were on the war path. Nevertheless, Fremont deter- 
mined to do so at all hazards, and addressed the Indian 
chiefs who had come to warn him in the following 
words : 

"We do not believe what you have said, and will not 
listen to you. Whatever a chief among us tells his sol- 
diers to do, is done. We are the soldiers of the great 
chief, your father. He has told us to come here and see 
this country, and all the Indians, his children. Why 
should we not go? . . . We came among you peaceably, 
holding out our hands. . . . We have thrown away our 
bodies, and will not turn back. We are few, and you 
are many, and may kill us all. . . . Do you think that 
our great chief will let his soldiers die and forget to 
cover their graves? ... I have pulled down my white 
houses, and my people are ready; when the sun is ten 
paces higher, we shall be on the march. If you have 
anything to tell us, you will say it soon." 



ARMY 21 

At the edge of the foot-hills of the snow-peaked 
Rockies, Fremont concealed everything that would not 
be needed on the mountain journey. The party now 
followed the Platte River, to South Pass, which he 
crossed and reached the head waters of the Colorado, 
which empties into the Pacific Ocean. 

The ascent of Fremont Peak, to a height of 13,570 
feet, where the Stars and Stripes were unfurled, was 
accomplished under no little risk and difficulty. From 
this point of vantage could be seen to the north the snow- 
clad mountains that contain the sources of the Columbia 
and Missouri Rivers — to the west the countless lakes and 
streams that feed the Colorado and the Gulf of California, 
to the east the springs of the Yellowstone branch of 
the Missouri, on the south the waters of the Platte, and 
beyond the mountain reservoirs of the Arkansas. 

He now undertook the survey of the Platte, concern- 
ing which strange stories had been told him by the In- 
dians of the cataracts, rocks, and whirlpools, through 
which no boat could live. Dividing his men, with in- 
structions to the main body to cross country and meet 
him at Goat Island, accompanied by Mr. Preuss and five 
of his best men, he descended the river. 

Returning by the Platte and Missouri Rivers to St. 
Louis, he reported to the Government in Washington in 
the Fall of that year. 

The following year, 1843, Fremont was instructed to 
cross the Rocky Mountains to the mouth of the Columbia, 
to locate the lost road to the Pacific. In this great 
journey of some seventeen hundred miles across the 
plains and over the mountain, he reached Great Salt 
Lake, of which comparatively little was known at this 
period. 

*Tt was one of the great points of the exploration," he 



22 OUR UNITED STATES 

writes. "It was certainly a magnificent object, and to 
travellers long shut up among mountain ranges a sudden 
view over the expanse of waters had in it something 
sublime." 

Pursuing his journey north and west through moun- 
tains and deserts he reached Fort Vancouver, November 
4. Fremont had successfully completed the work 
assigned to him by the government, but he was ambitious 
to undertake exploration of that little known country 
between Salt Lake and California, now known as the 
Great Basin. Six days after his arrival at Vancouver 
he set out with twenty-five persons on this extraordinary 
undertaking. The season of the year was particularly 
unpropitious and the perils of this journey across the 
Sierra Nevadas was deemed by the native Indians pure 
madness. 

Days followed of excessive toil over rough and frozen 
country without proper provisions and in the intense 
cold. 

On February 2, Fremont writes: 

"It had ceased snowing, and the lower air was clear 
and frosty. Six or seven thousand feet above, the peaks 
of the Sierra now and then appeared among the rolling 
clouds." 

Four days later he was standing on their summit. 
"Between us, then, and this coast range was the valley 
of the Sacramento, and no one not with us for the last 
few months could realize the delight with which we at 
last looked down upon it. We were at a great height 
above the valley and between us and these plains 
extended miles of snowy fields and broken ridges of 
pine-covered mountains. . . . On February 11 high wind 
and snow nearly covered our trail ... by February 16 
we succeeded in getting our animals safely to the first 



ARMY 23 

grassy hills ... on the 19th the people were occupied 
in making a road and bringing up the baggage, and on 
the afternoon of the next day, February 20, 1844, we 
encamped, with the animals and all the materials of the 
camp, on the summit of the pass in the dividing ridge, 
one thousand miles by our travelled road from the Dallas 
of the Columbia . . . 9,338 feet above the sea. . . . We 
now considered ourselves victorious over the mountain, 
having only the descent before us, and the valley under 
our eyes. . . . 

"February 23," he continues, "was our most difficult 
day — going ahead with Carson to reconnoitre the road, 
we reached a river . . . Carson sprang over, but the 
smooth sole of my moccasin glanced from the icy rock, 
and threw me into the river. Carson, thinking me hurt, 
jumped in after me, and we both had an icy bath. Fol- 
lowing the river, which pursued a direct westerly course 
through a narrow valley. ... On a bench of the hill 
nearby was a field of green grass six inches high into 
which the animals were driven and fed with great 
delight. Cedars abounded, and we measured one 28^ 
feet in circumference. 

"February 26 we continued to follow the stream, the 
mountains on either side increasing in height as we 
descended, and shutting up the river narrowly between 
precipices, along which we had a great difficulty to get 
our horses. We had with us a large kettle, and a mule 
being killed here, his head was boiled in it for several 
hours and made a pleasant soup for famished people. 
. . . My favorite horse, Provean, had become very weak 
and was scarcely able to bring himself to the top. 
Travelling here was good, except in crossing the ravines, 
which were narrow, steep and frequent. . . . Near night- 
fall we descended into the steep ravine of a handsome 



24 OUR UNITED STATES 

creek thirty feet wide, . . . when a shout was heard 
from Carson. . . . 'Life yet,' he said, 'yet Hfe: I have 
found a hillside sprinkled with grass enough for the 
night.' " 

Mr. Preuss became separated from the party and was 
lost several days. Having nothing with him but his 
pocket knife, he subsisted upon the roots of wild onions 
and frogs, and, discovering a nest of ants, he ate these 
in his struggle to ward off death from starvation. Fall- 
ing in with some Indians, he was supplied with roasted 
acorns and finally found his way back to camp. Other 
members of the party had lost their reason from expo- 
sure and lack of sufficient food. At the junction of the 
Sacramento they came upon a village of Indians and, 
writes Fremont: 

"We had the delight of hearing one who could speak 
Spanish. Among them was one who said he was one of 
Captain Sutter's herdsmen. He led us down the valley 
till we were met by Captain Sutter himself, who gave 
us a most frank and cordial welcome. . . . Out of sixty- 
seven horses and mules, with which we commenced cross- 
ing the Sierra, only thirty-three reached the valley of the 
Sacramento." 

After a stay of two weeks, during which supplies were 
collected and preparations made for the return journey, 
Fremont and his men left March 24 and started south 
along the valley of the San Joaquin River, for the pur- 
pose of exploring the desert and mountain region between 
southern California and the Great Salt Lake. 

"Our cavalcade made a strange and grotesque appear- 
ance, and it was impossible to avoid reflections upon our 
position and composition in this remote solitude. With- 
in two degrees of the Pacific Ocean, already far south 
of the latitude of Monterey, and still forced on south by 



ARMY 25 

a desert on one hand, and a mountain range on the other, 
guided by a civilized Indian, attended by two wild ones 
from the Sierra, a Chinook from Columbia, and our own 
mixture of American, French, German, all armed, four 
or five languages heard at once, above a hundred horses 
and mules, half wild, American, Spanish, and Indian 
dresses, and equipments intermingled, — such was our 
composition. Our march was a sort of procession — 
scouts ahead and on the flanks, a front and rear division, 
the pack animals, baggage, and horned cattle in the cen- 
tre and the whole stretching a quarter of a mile along 
our dreary path." 

"In arriving at the Utah Lake," he writes, "we had 
completed an immense circuit of twelve degrees diameter 
north and south, and ten degrees east and west, and 
found ourselves in May, 1844, on the same sheet of 
water we had left in September, 1843. . . . The circuit 
which we had made, and which had cost us eight months 
of time, and 3,500 miles of travelling, had given us a 
view of Oregon and North California from the Rocky 
Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, and of the two principal 
streams which form bays or harbors on the coast of that 
sea. ... In our eight months' circuit we were never 
out of sight of snow and the Sierra Nevada, where we 
crossed it, was nearly 2,000 feet higher than the South 
Pass in the Rocky Mountains." 

On the 6th of August the travellers reached St. Louis, 
by way of Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri. 

On the 29th of January, 1845, President Tyler, with 
the advice and consent of the Senate of the United States, 
conferred upon Lieutenant Fremont, a Brevet commis- 
sion of Captain in the corps of Topographical Engineers. 
He was brevetted to a First Lieutenancy and a Captaincy, 
at the same time. For this distinguished compliment he 



26 OUR UNITED STATES 

was indebted, in part, to the instrumentality of the com- 
manding General of the Army. 

In the Fall of that year he started on his third expedi- 
tion. This was his last under the authority of the Gov- 
ernment. The two next expeditions were at his own 
cost, and unconnected altogether with the Government. 
He went out in the third expedition, by the northern head 
waters of the Arkansas, then the boundary line of the 
country, to the south side of the Great Salt Lake, and 
thence directly across the central basin, towards Cali- 
fornia, in a route of which he was the first explorer. 
Upon reaching the neighborhood of the Sierra Nevada, 
he concluded that, in the worn and weakened condition 
of his men and animals, they would not be able to sur- 
mount the barrier at that point. . . . He therefore 
divided his party . . . got across the mountains with his 
light party, proceeded to Sutter's, purchased fifty cattle 
and drove them down the western side of the Sierra to 
meet the main body of his people. . . . Unfortunately 
they mistook the pass. . . . Fremont remained waiting 
and roaming for them, in the wild and mountainous coun- 
try, having frequent hard fights with the savage tribes that 
infested these, until his cattle were wasted by exhaustion 
and destroyed by injuries among the sharp rocks. 
Finally, he abandoned the search, and going down to 
the California settlements, learned that his company, after 
many sufferings, had come into the country by a different 
route from that directed by him, quite remote from where 
he had expected to meet them. . . . Orders were sent to 
Walker to go with his party to San Jose, and there remain 
until Fremont should join them. Wishing to avoid all 
occasion of ill-will, or suspicion, on the part of the Mexi- 
can authorities in California, he went alone to Monterey, 
and made himself known to Mr. Larkin, the consul of 



ARMY 27 

the United States in that city, and accompanied by him, 
waited upon Alvarado, the Alcalde, and Manuel Castro, 
the commanding general, who constituted the leading 
authorities of the country. He communicated his object 
in coming to California, stating that his sole purpose was 
a scientific exploration of the continent with a view of 
ascertaining the best mode of establishing a commercial 
intercourse between the Atlantic and Pacific regions. He 
requested to winter in the country, recruit his company, 
and continue his explorations. His request was granted. 
He then repaired to his party at San Jose, where they 
remained several weeks. . . . On the 3rd of March, 
when within about twenty-five miles of Monterey, he 
was met by an officer who had a detachment of eight 
dragoons in his rear to enforce his message, ordering 
him without any explanation peremptorily out of the coun- 
try. . . . Captain Fremont felt no disposition to pay a 
hurried obedience to the order. He marched, with his 
party, directly to a lofty hill, called Hawks Peak, pro- 
ceeded to fortify his position, and erected a staff on its 
highest point, forty feet in length, and unfurled from it 
the flag of his country. His own spirit pervaded his 
whole party. On the 9th, Consul Larkin succeeded in 
effecting a communication with Fremont, informing him 
of the preparations going on to attack him. . . . After 
several days, as Castro ventured upon no attack, he con- 
cluded to move from his position at Hawks Peak. . . . 
He was determined to originate no hostile movement, 
but confine himself wholly to the resistance of violence. 
. . . He therefore moved down into the San Joaquin 
Valley, and by moderate and deliberate marches turned 
up through North California towards Oregon and the 
Columbia River. 

Colonel Benton, in a speech in the Senate characterized 



28 OUR UNITED STATES 

the course of Fremont in well-deserved language: — 
"Such was the reason for raising the flag. It was 
raised at the approach of danger, it was taken down when 
danger disappeared. It was well and nobly done, and 
worthy of our admiration. Sixty of our countrymen, 
three thousand miles from home, in sight of the Pacific 
Ocean, appealing to the flag of their country, unfurling 
it on the mountain top, and determined to die under it, 
before they would submit to unjust aggression." 

Mr. Buchanan, Secretary of State, had sent Mr. 
Gillespie with a small party to overtake Fremont and in- 
form him of the strained relations between the United 
States and Mexico. After a most hazardous journey in 
which he nearly lost his life at the hands of the Indians, 
Gillespie reached Fremont and communicated the in- 
formation. 

"A rupture between the United States and Mexico be- 
ing not improbable, it was the wish of the Government 
that Fremont should keep himself in a favorable position 
to watch the state of things in California, conciliate the 
feelings of its people, encourage a friendship with the 
United States, and do what he could to prevent that 
country falling into the hands of Great Britain. In 
obedience to this suggestion, he began to retrace his steps 
into California. . . . When Captain Fremont came into 
North California, he found the whole country in a state 
of great alarm. . . . General Castro was military com- 
mander, and was actively exerting his influence to ag- 
gravate the jealousy of the native Califomians towards 
foreign residents. He had issued a proclamation aimed 
at Americans particularly and requiring them to leave the 
country. It became evident that measures had been for 
some time secretly concerting among many of the leading 
Spanish Californians, to transfer the country to the pro- 



ARMY 29 

tection and control of Great Britain, and to drive out or 
exterminate all American settlers (that is, as the word 
is universally understood, all settlers from the United' 
States) ; to expel them utterly, with their families, and to 
take possession of their lands. In order to accomplish 
this more effectually, the Indian tribes were made to par- 
ticipate in the conspiracy, and instigated to burn and de- 
stroy the crops and houses of Americans. . . . When 
Captain Fremont came down into the Sacramento Valley, 
men, women and children flocked to him as a country- 
man. . . . He obtained information of a scheme, the 
authentic and official records of which he afterwards 
found in the archives of California, while occupying the 
governmental house in Los Angeles. 

"A Catholic priest, named Engenio Macnamara, in the 
year 1845 and the early part of 1846, was domesticated 
with the British legation at the city of Mexico. During 
that time he made application for a grant of land for the 
purpose of establishing a colony in California. He asked 
for a square league, containing 4,428 acres . . . the 
territory to be conveyed to him should be around San 
Francisco Bay, embrace three thousand square leagues, 
and include the entire valley of the San Joaquin. He 
agreed to bring a thousand families at the beginning. 
His proposal was favorably entertained by the central 
government. It was referred, for a final decision, to the 
landholders and local authorities of California. Con- 
ventions were about being held to perfect the arrange- 
ment, Macnamara was landed, from the British frigate 
Juno, one of Sir George Seymour's fleet at Santa Bar- 
bara, just at this time. Everything was ripe for a final 
settlement of the whole matter, and by virtue of this 
grant of land to Macnamara, the whole country would 
have passed under British protection. 



30 OUR UNITED STATES 

"The point was reached at which it became necessary 
for Fremont to decide. The Indians had begun to bum 
the crops of the American settlers, and were assembled 
in a large force of about six hundred warriors, at or near 
what is known as Redding's Ranch, about thirty-five 
or forty miles from his encampment. He must either 
quit the country, and leave the American settlers, with 
their wives and children, to utter ruin and a fearful fate, 
or he must step forward as their defender. ... To head 
a rebellion in a country with which his own, so far as he 
knew, was at peace, was assuming a most serious re- 
sponsibility. . . . He called his men together, laid before 
them the state of the case, and referred to the destruction 
impending over those residents of California who were 
their countrymen. He told them that he had no right, as 
a United States officer, to resist the authorities or make 
war upon the subjects of a government with which his 
country was at peace. ... If they wished to volunteer 
in defence of the American settlers and their families, 
they were at liberty to do so. . . . They unanimously de- 
clared their readiness to join him, and appointed him 
their commander. He instantly marched against the In- 
dians and dispersed five villages in one day, in such 
rapid succession that notice of his approach could not be 
sent forward. . . . He thus utterly annihilated the Indian 
combination, and rescued the settlers from threatening 
ruin without loss of a man. . . . By rapid and vigorous 
movements, Castro's forces were all driven from the 
country north of the bay of San Francisco. ... By the 
celerity of these bold movements, the power of Mexico 
over North California was broken down forever, and the 
whole golden empire secured to the United States." 



CHAPTER IV 
Domestic Disturbances 

While Colonel Fremont was extending his valuable 
activities in exploration and scientific research, a problem 
was confronting the government that at repeated intervals 
has always been a factor in the maintenance of friendly 
relations with adjacent powers. The infringement of the 
neutrality laws by zealous and sometimes lawless citizens 
had been a menace to American peace as early as 1836, 
when what is known as the Sabine Affair all but pre- 
cipitated war with Mexico at that date. 

Texas in her struggle for independence had won the 
sympathy of our liberty loving, adventurous citizens, who 
in inconsiderable numbers had crossed the frontier and 
joined the fighting forces. National aid was sent across 
the border and other evidences of too great sympathy with 
those in revolt had caused the Mexican authorities to ap- 
peal to the American government for the strict enforce- 
ment of neutrality and to prevent armed bodies from en- 
tering Texas from this side of the border. 

To General Gaines, then in command of the Depart- 
ment of the West, was given the difficult task of enforc- 
ing the laws. Certain information to the effect that the 
Mexicans were endeavoring to secure Indian assistance 
from along our Louisiana border, to suppress the Texan 
revolutionists, caused General Gaines to march to the 
frontier about the middle of April, 1836, where he added 

31 



32 OUR UNITED STATES 

to his forces by applying to the Governors of Louisiana, 
Kentucky, Alabama and Mississippi, for a militia force 
of 10,000 men, and with these he moved across the Sabine 
and occupied Nacogdoches, in Texas territory. The 
rumors of a Mexican advance proved to be a ruse by 
which the Texan authorities had secured the presence of 
a large armed force, for the purpose of deterring the 
Mexicans in the furtherance of their designs. When this 
information reached the President, a prompt return and 
disbandment of the militia was ordered and General 
Gaines was severely criticised. 

In 1837, the unrest in Canada and the desire of a large 
number of its citizens for a separation from Great Britain 
won the sympathies and assistance of numbers of Ameri- 
can citizens along our northern borders. Secret societies 
similar to those already existing in Canada were formed 
in Vermont and Northern New York. Public meetings 
took place in Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Oswego and other 
cities ; the excitement and sympathy with the revolu- 
tionists extended to the states of Pennsylvania, Michigan 
and Ohio and large numbers exemplified their sympathies 
with the "Patriots," as the Canadian insurgents were 
called, by contributions of money, organizing themselves 
into military companies, and at last establishing them- 
selves on Navy Island, two miles below the Falls, in the 
Niagara River, under the command of Rensselaer Van 
Rensselaer, of Albany, New York. This entrance on 
Canadian soil of an armed force of American citizens 
avowedly in sympathy with Canadian revolutionists in- 
duced the home government to remonstrate with the 
authorities of the United States, and upon the American 
seizure of Navy Island, to order Colonel McNab to re- 
sort to force in restoring neutrality between the two 
powers. 



ARMY 33 

His first act was to seize the steamer Caroline lying at 
Schlosser, on the American side, set it on fire and let it 
drift over the falls. This tragic incident occurred on the 
night of December 29, 1837, and created great feeling of 
resentment and anger when it was learned that in no way 
was she concerned with the "Patriots" and that her crew 
were the innocent victims of a brutal murder. Indig- 
nation ran so high that General Scott, U. S. A., was given 
authority to call upon the militia from the States of New 
York and Vermont, if he felt such a measure was neces- 
sary to preserve order. His instructions of January 5th, 
embodied the following extract : 

*'It is important that the troops called into the service 
should be, if possible, exempt from the state of excite- 
ment which the late violation of our territory has created, 
and you will therefore impress upon the governors of 
these border states the propriety of selecting troops from 
a portion of the State distant from the theatre of action. 
The Executive possesses no legal authority to employ 
the military force to restrain persons within our juris- 
diction, and who ought to be under our control, from vio- 
lating the laws, by making incursions into the territory 
of the neighboring and friendly nations with hostile in- 
tent. I can give you, therefore, no instructions on that 
subject, but request that you will use your influence to 
prevent such excesses and to preserve the character of 
this Government for good faith and a proper regard for 
the rights of friendly powers." 

On his arrival at Buffalo, General Scott called upon 
the governor of New York for 1,500 militia, but before 
they could be assembled the Patriot forces on Navy Is- 
land had determined to evacuate that point as possessing 
no strategic advantage. Accordingly, on the 13th of 
January, in the presence of General Scott, Governor 



34 OUR UNITED STATES 

Marcy, and such of the mihtia as were drawn from 
Buffalo, the Patriots crossed over in boats to Grand Is- 
land where they surrendered their arms, and from thence 
to the mainland, where General Van Rensselaer was ar- 
rested by the United States Marshal. After this the 
Patriots established themselves at various points along 
the border of Lakes Erie and Ontario, and on the 
frontiers of Vermont and Michigan, and carried on a 
guerrilla warfare. Some 800 fortified themselves on 
Gibralta Island in Detroit River and another considerable 
body gathered at Clayton. On the 5th of February, about 
2,000 of them crossed to the Canada side below Maiden ; 
but, evidently dismayed at their own temerity, recrossed 
to the American shore and surrendered to General Brady 
at Fort Wayne. A few days later the State arsenals at 
Watertown and Batavia, New York, were broken open 
and plundered, as was the United States arsenal at 
Elizabethtown. By the middle of June these outrageous 
acts had become so annoying that the Government deter- 
mined to end them. Regular troops were stationed at or 
near Buffalo and along the Niagara frontier ; at Sackett's 
Harbor, Fort Covington, Champlain and Plattsburg in 
New York, and at Swanton, Derby, and Troy in Vermont. 
The governor of New York recalled his militia — which 
had been mustered out after the surrender of Navy Is- 
land — and every possible avenue between the two coun- 
tries was carefully guarded ; and these precautions were 
kept up for the following six months. 

The Patriot War terminated somewhat ignominiously 
and unexpectedly about the middle of November, when 
in an attack upon Presscott, where they were many times 
outnumbered, they were beaten and compelled to sur- 
render unconditionally. 

In a proclamation issued by the President dated No- 



ARMY 35 

vember 21, 1838, he warned the people for the second time 
against the consequences of their folly. The hopeless- 
ness of the cause had already discouraged many of its 
adherents and gradually its sympathizers slipped away, 
the societies disbanded and the Patriots became no longer 
a cause of international complications. 

From this time until the acceptance on the part of the 
Republic of Texas, of the terms of annexation offered by 
our Government excited the ill will of the Government of 
Mexico and thus compelled the sending of troops to the 
Rio Grande, there was with one exception, comparative 
quiet from domestic disturbances throughout the 
country. 

This exception, however, furnished the first occasion 
for the President to decide whether as a matter of fact 
an insurrection against the government of a State actually 
existed, and whether it would be lawful for him to inter- 
vene between two persons, each claiming to be the execu- 
tive, and two organized bodies, each claiming to be the 
legal one. 

The State of Rhode Island, which was the last of the 
thirteen colonies to ratify the National Constitution, was 
also the last to abandon her charter government. For 
nearly two hundred years the people of that State pos- 
sessed no fundamental law except the charter granted by 
Charles II in 1663, and the usage of the legislature under 
it. This charter, among other features, restricted the 
right of suffrage to owners of a freehold and to their 
eldest sons. Framed at the time when Newport was the 
principal town, it gave her six deputies in the lower house 
of the legislature, while Providence was given but four. 
In the meantime Providence had increased its population 
to nearly three times that of Newport, while in 1840 the 
landholders numbered scarcely one-eighth of the adult 



36 OUR UNITED STATES 

male population. These restrictions, as their inequalities 
increased with time, became more and more obnoxious, 
and finally produced open discontent. Many attempts of 
the minority in the legislature to secure reform having 
failed, the people in mass meeting at Providence in July 
1841, authorized the assembling of a convention to frame 
a constitution. This constitution having been submitted 
to the people in December, 1841, it was claimed that a 
vote equal to a majority of the adult male citizens of the 
State was given for its adoption; and it was further 
asserted that this affirmative vote included as well a clear 
majority of the freeholders, or those entitled to vote 
under the charter. In the meantime under the authority 
of the legislature, the "charter party" so called, had held 
a convention and framed a constitution which was sub- 
mitted to the people in March, 1842, and rejected. The 
opposition, disregarding this, ordered an election for the 
8th of April, 1842, and boldly announced their intention 
to see that the officers chosen at such election should be 
seated. On the 4th of April the governor made a formal 
requisition upon the United States. 

Messrs. Whipple, Francis and Potter were the bearers 
of a letter from the Governor in which the situation is 
given in detail. In this letter the governor advances the 
argument that a proclamation from the President and 
the presence in the State of an officer of the Army would 
convince the opposition that a contest with the State 
government would involve them in a contest with the 
Federal Government, and hence would operate as a pre- 
ventive to anticipated violence and deter them from 
carrying out their intentions. To this the President re- 
pHed on the 11th that in his opinion the time had not ar- 
rived for Federal interference; that ''there must be an 
actual insurrection, manifested by lawless assemblages of 



ARMY 37 

the people or otherwise, to whom a proclamation may be 
addressed and who may be required to betake themselves 
to their respective abodes." i\t the same time he assured 
the Governor that should the time arrive, "when an in- 
surrection shall exist against the government of Rhode 
Island, and a requisition shall be made upon the Execu- 
tive of the United States to furnish that protection which 
is guaranteed to each State by the Constitution and the 
laws, I shall not be found to shrink from the performance 
of a duty, which, while it would be the most painful, is at 
the same time the most imperative." 

On the 18th of April the election ordered under the 
new constitution was held, and a full board of officers 
chosen, of whom one Thomas W. Dorr, was the Gov- 
ernor. The new government organized at Providence 
on the 3rd of May; both houses of the legislature as- 
sembled and resolutions were passed requesting the 
governor (Dorr) to inform the President of the United 
States that a State government had been duly elected and 
organized under the constitution. 

To resolutions introduced the following day by the 
general assembly in session at Newport the President re- 
plied on the 7th of May, in a letter to Governor King, 
that from information in his possession, he is led to be- 
lieve that the danger is over-estimated ; "that the lawless 
assemblages have already dispersed and that the danger 
of domestic violence is hourly diminishing, if it has not 
already disappeared." He reiterated his assurance that 
"if resistance be made to the laws of Rhode Island by 
such force as the civil power shall be unable to overcome, 
it will be the duty of this Government to enforce the con- 
stitutional guaranty." The same day Dorr issued a 
proclamation appealing to the people from the proposed 
interference of the President of the United States in the 



38 OUR UNITED STATES 

affairs of Rhode Island, in which occurred the following 
language : 

"It has become my duty to say that so soon as a 
soldier of the United States shall be set in motion, by 
whatever direction, to act against the people of this State 
in aid of the charter government I shall call for that aid 
to oppose all such force, which I am fully authorized to 
say, will be immediately and most cheerfully tendered to 
the service of the people of Rhode Island from the city 
of New York and from other places. The contest will 
then become national and our State the battle ground of 
American freedom. 

"As requested by the general assembly, I enjoin upon 
the militia to elect their company officers ; and I call upon 
volunteers to organize themselves without delay. The 
military are directed to hold themselves in readiness for 
immediate action." 

On the 18th a body of men assembled at Providence 
and under the leadership of Dorr attempted to seize the 
State arsenal, but dispersed on the approach of Governor 
King with a body of militia. Dorr now left the State, 
but rumors soon came that he was enlisting men 
and collecting arms in the neighboring States for the pur- 
pose of moving an armed force upon the existing govern- 
ment. Acting upon this information Governor King 
again addressed the President on the 20th of May. 
After reciting the situation, and expressing his fears that 
"a civil war of the most destructive and vindictive 
character" was imminent, he adds : 

"In this posture of affairs I deem it my duty to call 
upon Your Excellency for the support guaranteed by the 
Constitution. . . . You will see by the statement of the 
secret agent of the government that the time put for this 



ARMY 39 

incursion is very near. The mustering of the insur- 
gents and their movement upon the city will probably be 
with the greatest expedition when once commenced — in 
a time too short for a messenger to reach Washington 
and return with aid. I therefore make this application 
before any movement of magnitude on their part, in order 
that we may be prepared at the briefest notice to quell 
domestic insurrection and repel invasion." 

The President's reply is dated May 28. He informs 
the governor that measures are being taken to ascertain 
the extent of the danger, and that "should the necessity 
of the case require the interposition of the authority of 
the United States it will be rendered in the manner pre- 
scribed by the laws." . . . 

On this date the Secretary of War was instructed to 
direct Colonel Bankhead at Newport to send a prudent 
officer to the scene of disturbance to procure all possible 
information and report to the President with all possible 
despatch, and at the same time to convey similar instruc- 
tions to General Wool at New York, and to General 
Eustace at Boston. For the ensuing month the Dorr 
party gave little or no sign of their intentions, and it was 
confidently believed that they had abandoned their proj- 
ects, when on the 23rd of June, Dorr suddenly appeared 
at the village of Chepachet, some ten or twelve miles to 
the northeast of Providence, with a force estimated at 
500 to 1,000 men, fully armed and provided with cannon, 
camp equipage, and stores. On the receipt of this intelli- 
gence the governor again appealed to Washington, re- 
citing the situation and reporting that in many parts of 
the State the civil authority is disregarded and paralyzed. 

The President now calls the attention of the governor 
to a fact heretofore overlooked, viz. ''that the legislature 
of the State is now in session, and, as under the law the 



40 OUR UNITED STATES 

State executive has no authority to summon to the aid 
of the State the miHtary force of the United States, ex- 
cept in cases when the legislature can not be convened, 
such summons must come from that body." On the 
25th of June, the general assembly declared martial law. 
On the 27th a militia force of 2,500 to 3,000 men was put 
in motion and by two or more roads marched upon 
Chepachet, where Dorr, with about 250 men, some two- 
thirds of whom were armed, was stationed behind some 
earth works, with six pieces of cannon. On that date 
Colonel Bankhead then at Providence reported to the 
Adjutant General that the insurgents, some 2,500 in 
number, with 1,500 muskets and ten or twelve cannon, 
were strongly intrenched at Chepachet; that the militia 
had assembled at Providence with 2,000 men, and that it 
seemed impossible to avoid a conflict without the inter- 
position of a strong regular force. At the same time an 
urgent appeal for aid came from the Rhode Island dele- 
gation in Congress, in which they requested an immediate 
compliance with the governor's requisition, as being "the 
only measure that can now prevent the effusion of blood 
and the calamities of intestine violence, if each has not 
already occurred." Early in the morning of the 28th 
the State troops moved upon these works at Chepachet 
and found them deserted. Dorr and his men having dis- 
persed during the night. On the 29th the President hav- 
ing decided that the time for action had arrived, in- 
structed Secretary of War to proceed to Rhode Island, 
and, in the event of a requisition being made upon the 
President in conformity with the laws, he should cause 
the proclamation already prepared and signed to be 
published; that the Federal troops from Fort Adams 
should be placed in such position as would enable them to 



ARMY 41 

defend the city of Providence, and that, should circum- 
stances render it necessary, he should call upon the 
governors of Massachusetts and Connecticut for such 
numbers of militia as might be sufficient to terminate the 
insurrection. "Happily," says President Tyler in his 
message of April 9, 1844, to Congress, "there was no 
necessity for either issuing the proclamation or the re- 
quisition or for removing the troops from Fort Adams, 
where they had been properly stationed. Chepachet was 
evacuated, and Mr. Dorr's troops dispersed without the 
necessity of the interposition of any military force by 
this Government, thus confirming me in my early im- 
pressions that nothing more had been designed from the 
first by those associated with Mr. Dorr than to excite fear 
and apprehension, and thereby obtain concessions from 
the constituted authorities which might be claimed as a 
triumph over the existing government. 

"With the dispersion of Mr. Dorr's troops ended all 
difficulties. A convention was shortly afterwards called, 
by due course of law, to amend the fundamental law, and 
a new constitution, based on more liberal principles than 
that abrogated, was proposed, and adopted by the people. 
Thus the great American experiment of a change of 
government under the influence of opinion and not of 
force has been again crowned with success, and the State 
and people of Rhode Island repose in safety under insti- 
tutions of their own adoption, unterrified by any future 
prospect or necessary change and secure against domestic 
violence and invasion from abroad. I congratulate the 
country upon so happy a termination of a condition of 
things which seemed at one time seriously to threaten 
the public peace. It may justly be regarded as worthy 
of the age and country in which we live." 



42 OUB UNITED STATES 

Mr. Dorr returned to the State on the 29th of October, 
was arrested, tried upon a charge of high treason, con- 
victed and sentenced to imprisonment for Hfe, but was 
released in 1847, under a general act of amnesty. 



CHAPTER V 

Indian Treaties and Warfare 

The Indian policy of the government of the United 
States was the outgrowth of the general policy and prac- 
tice founded by the nations of Europe on the principle of 
right of discovery, which gave title to the government by 
whose subjects or by whose authority it was made, against 
all other European governments, the title for which was 
consummated by possession. With the independence of 
the colonies came the natural right of acquiring soil from 
the natives and establishing settlements upon it. The 
great discovering Powers, England, France, Spain and 
Portugal, admitted the Indians to have the "right of oc- 
cupancy," a right alienable in but two ways, the right of 
purchase or by conquest. Their right to complete 
sovereignty as independent nations was not recognized 
nor was their power to dispose of the soil at their own 
free will to whomsoever they pleased, as this encroached 
upon the principles which gave exclusive title to those 
foreigners who had discovered it. With the growth of 
the United States it was inevitable that the tide of emi- 
gration to the frontiers should gradually push the Indian 
farther westward. In almost all instances the right of 
occupancy was bought of the native, the bargain being in 
the nature of a treaty ; nevertheless, the inevitable en- 
croachments of civilization and the permanent security 
of the settlers, was not obtained without a long series of 

43 



44 OUR UNITED STATES 

encounters with the savages, which lasted for a period of 
more than a century. 

"The conception of Indian character," writes Colonel 
Richard L Dodge, "is almost impossible to a man who 
has passed the greater portion of his life surrounded by 
the influences of a cultivated, refined and moral society. 
The truth is simply too shocking, and the revolted mind 
takes refuge in dis-belief as the less painful horn of 
dilemma. As a first step toward an understanding of his 
character we must get at his standpoint of morality. As 
a child he is not brought up. From the dawn of intelli- 
gence his own wile is his law. There is no right and no 
wrong to him. No dread of punishment restrains him 
from any act that boyish fun or fury may prompt. No 
lessons inculcating the beauty and sure reward of good- 
ness or the hideousness and certain punishment of vice 
are ever wasted on him. The men by whom he is sur- 
rounded, and to whom he looks as models for his future 
life, are great and renowned just in proportion to their 
ferocity, to the scalps they have taken, or the thefts they 
have committed. His earliest boyish memory is probably 
a dance of rejoicing over the scalps of strangers, all of 
whom he is taught to regard as enemies. The lessons 
of his mother awaken only a desire to take his place as 
soon as possible in fight and foray. The instruction of 
his father is only such as is calculated to fit him best to 
act a prominent part in the chase, in theft, and in murder. 
Virtue, morality, generosity, honor, are words not only 
absolutely without significance to him, but are not ac- 
curately translated into any Indian language on the 
plains." 

One of the first treaties under the direction of the War 
Department was negotiated by General St. Clair in 
January, 1789, with the "Six Nations," consisting of those 



ARMY 45 

warlike tribes, the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, 
Cayugas, Senecas, and Tuscaroras, who terrorized a 
large section of the country from Lake Champlain to the 
western boundary of Lake Erie. By this treaty the 
western boundary of the territory was fixed along the 
line of Pennsylvania and Ohio. 

At the same period another treaty was negotiated with 
the Wyandot, Delaware, Ottawa, Chippewa, Pottawa- 
tamie, and Sac nations defining the boundaries of north- 
western Ohio, northern Indiana and Michigan, and 
providing for trade with the Indians. Treaties were ne- 
gotiated by the Secretary of War, General Knox, in 1790 
with the Creek Indians and also with the Cherokees, by 
which a large portion of Georgia and what is now Ala- 
bama and Tennessee was secured. 

Five years later (1795) a second treaty with the Six 
Nations secured to the United States large tracts of land, 
by which all the northeastern and much of western New 
York were opened for white occupation. 

Through the successful efTorts of General Wayne a 
treaty was negotiated the same year by which a large 
tract in Ohio and considerable reservations to the west- 
ward were secured to the United States, extending our 
frontier to a line running between the present city of 
Cleveland, Ohio, and Louisville, Kentucky. 

Again in June, 1803, the tribes inhabiting Indiana and 
Illinois met General Harrison at Fort Wayne and a suc- 
cessful treaty was negotiated. One item gave the settlers 
the right to build in the Indian country. General 
Harrison again met the Indians the following summer, 
which resulted in the treaty of Vincennes with the last of 
the powerful tribe of Kaskaskia, and this was followed 
the next year by that with the Delaware and Pianka- 
shaws, whereby General Harrison succeeded in securing 



46 OUR UNITED STATES 

all the southwestern part of the present state of 
Indiana. 

The year 1805 saw the consummation of a number of 
important treaties whereby the United States gained large 
areas of Indian country. "Thus, by a treaty with various 
tribes of Indians inhabiting northern Ohio and Indiana 
and Michigan, the frontier on the Northwest was moved 
a considerable distance westward ; an advantageous 
treaty with the war-like Chickasaws gave the United 
States large parts of Kentucky and Tennessee. General 
Harrison negotiated on the part of the United States 
several treaties with different tribes of Indians inhabiting 
the country to considerable distance on either bank of the 
Wabash River, in all of which valuable cessions of lands 
were made by the savages ; the Creeks, in a treaty ne- 
gotiated by Secretary of War Dearborn, made a large 
cession of their territory between the Oconee and Oc- 
mulgee Rivers; the Cherokees also ceded a large area of 
the northern portion of their territory, and in the follow- 
ing year gave up to the United States, by a treaty which 
was also negotiated on the part of the government by the 
Secretary of War in person, all their lands lying north- 
ward of the River Tennessee. In the three following 
years, the government also procured large cessions in 
Michigan from the Chippewa and other nations, in In- 
diana and Illinois from the Delawares and associate tribes 
and in what is now Missouri and Arkansas, from the 
Great and Little Osages. 

At the close of the Jefferson administration our frontier 
had advanced on the Northwest, West and Southwest, 
and to this newly acquired country came a steady stream 
of settlers, bringing with them the civilization of the east 
and establishing new homes and opening this fertile coun- 
try to agriculture and trade. The long succession of 



AEMY 47 

treaties negotiated through the agency of the War Depart- 
ment during the first half of the nineteenth century se- 
cured in safety to the incoming civiHzation nearly all that 
extensive territory between the Appalachian range and 
"the western boundary of the tier of states lying west of 
the Mississippi River." It was obviously impossible that 
so vast an extent of territory should be acquired without 
bloodshed. Nevertheless it devolved upon the Army to 
negotiate treaties of peace, bargains by which the Indian 
relinquished his claim, to regulate the trade and inter- 
course with the Indian tribes, and to preserve peace on 
the frontiers. By act of Congress citizens or residents 
of the United States were prohibited from passing within 
certain Indian limits, and they were forbidden to hunt or 
destroy game, or to drive cattle or other live stock thither 
to range on Indian reservations. Persons were forbidden 
to pass through the lands allotted to the Indians without 
passports, and crimes against the Indians were severely 
punished. It was necessary to secure a license to trade 
with the Indians and this could only be secured from the 
Indian Office of the War Department. 

Trading-houses were authorized to be established at as 
many places in the Indian country as might be designated 
by the President. Writes L. D. Ingersoll : "These trad- 
ing-houses authorized by a different series of acts of Con- 
gress, were in the charge of 'agents' under the direct 
supervision of the superintendent of Indian trade. They 
were placed under heavy bonds for the faithful perform- 
ance of their duties. They were totally distinct from the 
Indian traders. The traders carried on business on their 
own account supplying their own capital and goods ; the 
agents conducted the business of the trading-houses for 
the United States, which supplied the capital and goods. 
The furs and peltries thus acquired were sold at public 



48 OUR UNITED STATES 

auction by the government at different places in the 
country designated by the President." 

On the system thus described, business with the Indians 
was conducted and intercourse carried on until 1822, 
when the trading establishments were abolished by act of 
Congress, and the proceeds directed to be turned into the 
public treasury. At about the same time an act was 
passed amending the law regulating trade and intercourse 
with the Indian tribes, whereby the granting of licenses 
to trade was given to superintendents of Indian affairs 
and Indian agents, these being required to make regular 
returns of their doings in the premises to the Secretary 
of War. Stringent provision was made against illicit 
trade with the Indians, and all traders and officials having 
to do with Indian affairs were required to report regularly 
and fully to the War Department. This continued to be 
substantially the system for the regulation of trade and 
intercourse with the Indians so long as the management 
of their affairs remained in the War Department. A 
general superintendent of Indian affairs to reside at St. 
Louis was authorized by the act of 1822, which gave to 
that city for many years, an extensive and profitable 
Indian trade. 

The reports of the Department covered the manifold 
labors growing out of the regulation of trade and inter- 
course and extended an attempt at their civilization. 
The natural repugnance of the Indian for all forms of 
labor was the drawback to achievement in the line of 
their enlightenment. To the Cherokee nation above all 
others is due the greatest credit for improvement and 
progress. 

In July, 1817, General Jackson, General David Meri- 
wether, and Governor Joseph McMinn of Tennessee, 
representing the United States, negotiated a treaty with 



ARMY 49 

the Cherokees by which the Indians ceded large tracts to 
the government and received large reservations on the 
Arkansas River. 

The all engrossing topic before Congress in 1830 was 
"the removal of the Indians" and petitions and remon- 
strances were pouring in without number. In the Act of 
May 28, 1830, what is known as Indian Territory was 
set apart. The principal migrations did not occur until 
1831-1832, when the Chickasaws, Choctaws and Creeks 
were removed to this reservation. 

The withdrawal of troops from Camp Armistead, in 
the Cherokee country in 1838, precipitated unlawful 
settlement by unauthorized persons upon the lands oc- 
cupied by the Cherokees within the limits of North 
Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. March 13, 
1838, two companies of artillery were ordered to that 
section, "to receive and execute any instructions they may 
receive from the Governor of North Carolina in regard 
to the removal of the intruders on the Cherokee lands 
within the limits of that State." Three companies of the 
Fourth Infantry then stationed at the Augusta Arsenal 
were ordered to march to Fort Mitchell, Alabama, to re- 
move intruders within that State and Georgia, under the 
instructions of the district attorney of Alabama. 

This protection to the Indians proved ineffectual and 
the persistence of the settlers in occupying the Indian 
lands caused great uneasiness throughout the South. It 
was at last determined to remove the Indians to land west 
of the Mississippi, and in the spring of 1838 upon a req- 
uisition by the government for the assistance of militia 
to serve for a period of three months, the removal of the 
Indians took place, to be followed by a similar exodus of 
the Seminoles from Florida a few years later. 

In 1849 the control of Indian affairs passed from the 



50 OUR UNITED STATES 

War Department to the Interior Department. "During 
the sixty years conduct of those affairs by the War De- 
partment, nearly half the territory of the Union had been 
opened up to settlement and actual development. From 
the shores of Lake Champlain to the farther boundary of 
the tier of commonwealths beyond the Mississippi River, 
and to the Gulf of Mexico on the south, the savages had 
been removed to a safe distance, or were confined within 
narrow reservations easily guarded by the militia. In 
this vast expanse, embracing much of the magnificent 
valley of the Mississippi from which the Indians were re- 
moved to make way for our march of empire, nearly a 
score of States were formed, which, in 1879 contained 
more than half the population of the republic and the 
preponderance of its political power." 

Through a long succession of treaties both before and 
after the removal of Indian affairs from the War Depart- 
ment, the Government assumed a position and exerted 
a policy difficult if not totally impossible to explain. It 
frequently gave to its officers and agents instructions to 
parley with the Indians and negotiate for certain terms. 
The treaty would be ratified and signed and to the dis- 
couragement of both parties, fail to be carried out upon 
its implicit terms. That the government, and by that 
term is meant Congress, the elected representatives of 
the people, singularly neglected to fulfil its obligations 
in the matter of Indian treaties, failed to raise appropria- 
tion for promised indemnity for lands bought from the 
Indians, failed to supply them with necessary implements 
and means for earning their livelihood, and justly earned 
for itself among the tribes and the whites generally, 
the name of "liar" and "breaker of faith," reflects solely 
upon the citizens, whose indifference and apathy is pro- 
verbial so long as their greed for land or its equivalent in 



ARMY 51 

gold may be secured, whatever the cost in loyalty, in- 
tegrity and honor. 

It will be remembered that reservation after reserva- 
tion set aside "now and forever" for the exclusive use of 
the savage was invaded by the white settler, encroached 
upon for whatever profit might be secured from it and 
eventually appropriated by him. The march of civiliza- 
tion westward was as inevitable as the course of the set- 
ting sun, but it is equally obvious that in the course of 
the migration the free hooter and piratical spirit of the 
emigrant little considered the obligations of the govern- 
ment to its wards. The settler wanted the land and he 
took it, the government wanted the land for the settler 
and it took it, upon terms and with provisions it promptly 
forgot to fulfil. If bloodshed was the price of these 
bargains, then there was the Army to shed it, for, argued 
the citizen, what were they there for except as go be- 
tweens for the settler, to bring to terms the Indians who 
were impeding the progress of the nation and rendering 
unsafe, by cruel and violent remonstrance, the rising 
generation of citizens bent upon the possession and the 
pursuit of happiness. 

The peculiar traits of Indian character made more dif- 
ficult their control and subjugation. The settler who had 
suffered the enormities perpetrated by these savages 
found a life time too short for his revenge. Nor did the 
Indian confine his atrocities to the unprotected frontiers- 
man, but committed his dastardly murders within the 
very limits of the military reservation, where he had been 
accorded the privilege of passing the sentry ostensibly on 
an errand of peace. 

The discovery of gold in California and the construc- 
tion of the transcontinental railway precipitated an un- 
precedented rush of emigration across the plains, leaving 



52 OUR UNITED STATES 

in its wake destruction to game and fodder upon which 
the Indian depended for his own support and that of his 
horses. Fort Kearney, at Grand Island on the Platte 
River, Fort Laramie and Fort Bridger in Utah, Fort Hall, 
in Idaho, were the principal posts in the chain that al- 
ready stretched half way across the continent and formed 
the nucleus for that long chain hundreds in number, 
whose garrisons protected the white settler and dis- 
puted with the Indians every inch of ground from the 
Mississippi to the Rockies, from Mexico to the Canadian 
border. 

This same problem, that of the Indians, was one of the 
greatest before Congress between the years 1866 and 
1874. Trouble with the savages which had beset each 
onward stride in the early pioneer days renewed itself 
with fresh vigor and bloody outrage at the close of the 
Civil War. Troops which had kept the Indians at bay 
on the outskirts of the western borders had been called 
to take their place in the theatre of action of the Great 
Rebellion ; thereby abandoning some of the army strong- 
holds in the far West and giving to the Indians the im- 
pression of Federal weakness. Gradually the advance 
frontier settlers were driven back for protection into the 
more settled communities. 

Meanwhile the Indian had not stood still in the 
proximity of civilization. He had adopted most of its 
worst vices as well as its best methods of defense. He 
had discarded the bow and arrow and procured for him- 
self firearms and ammunition. 

When the army was sent back to re-occupy the chain 
of frontier posts the resentment of the wild tribes knew 
no bounds and they were soon allied in a determined pur- 
pose to resist the whites. Roving bands of Sioux. North- 



ARMY 53 

ern and Southern Cheyennes, Assinoboines, Piegans, 
Arapahoes, Kiowas, Pawnees, Miams, and Comanches, 
with many lesser tribes, roamed the country beyond the 
Kansas line on the south and Minnesota on the north, 
and as far west as the Pacific Slope. 

In Minnesota and Dakota serious trouble had been 
experienced in 1862, when scores of unoffending white 
settlers had been massacred in cold blood, the wives and 
daughters outraged, then killed or carried into the hor- 
rors of Indian captivity. No less than six hundred and 
forty-four people were killed before the Indian uprising 
was put down by General Sibley aided by Minnesota 
volunteers. 

A form of duty particularly trying to the soldier was 
that of military escort to emigrant trains while passing 
through dangerous Indian country. The slow progress 
of the "bull" or "ox train" made a most tedious journey. 
The distance between camps depended on the finding of 
sufficient grass for feeding the stock, and usually from 
seven to twelve miles was all that was covered between 
trips. Frequent halts for accidents to wagons incident 
to travel or lack of foresight on the part of the "bull 
wackers" caused vexatious delay to all, for the train must 
not be separated but at all times kept close together. At 
the cry of "Indians, Indians," every soldier would spring 
quickly to his position and return the brisk fire of the 
approaching savages, while the drivers to prevent the 
stampede of their animals would instantly turn their 
teams to form a park for their protection. 

Escorting Government and contractors' mule trains 
was less tedious but more harassing, although the dis- 
tance covered was from twenty to thirty miles a day; 
there was constant anxiety to protect the animals against 



54 OUR UNITED STATES 

the subtle wiles of the Indian horse thieves, whose cun- 
ning and prowess was well known to the commandant 
and the soldiery. 

"This method of guarding commercial supply trains 
and looking after emigrants was quietly kept up for 
scores of years," writes General Forsyth, "in fact, from 
almost the foundation of our Government until it finally 
culminated in guarding the surveyors and builders of 
the Pacific Railroad from 1865-1870. It had many a 
hardship and many a forgotten and almost unrecorded 
hard fight to mark its lapse of years, and even at this late 
day there is little doubt one could find plenty of material 
for popular romance should he search carefully and 
delve deep enough into the older manuscripts filed care- 
fully away among the records of the War Department." 

A development of this early duty eventuated in 
soldiers being used to guard the Santa Fe trail, which is 
worth at least a passing notice. Overland trade between 
the United States and northern Mexico was a gradual 
development which primarily was the outcome of the 
curiosity of a fur trapper, one James Pursley, who, 
listening to the stories of some Indians whom he had in 
his employ about the wealth of certain northern Mexican 
towns, journeyed on horseback from the Platte River to 
Santa Fe in 1805, and liked the place and people so well 
that he took up his residence there. About the same time 
a merchant of Kaskia, Illinois, named Morrison, sent a 
man named La Lande with a stock of goods to Santa Fe 
by pack train as a venture. He (La Lande) also reached 
Santa Fe, sold his goods, forgot to remit the proceeds to 
Morrison, and also became a permanent resident of 
Santa Fe. It was not, however, until the return of Cap- 
tain Pike from his southern exploring expedition in 1808 
with his glowing account of Santa Fe that trade between 



ARMY 55 

the Southwest and northern Mexico began to take on 
sufficient importance to attract the attention of some of 
the Southwestern traders and merchants. Several small 
caravans composed of pack horses and mules were 
started across the plains and reached Santa Fe and the 
venture paid very well, but in 1812 a large and most 
elaborate caravan was seized by the Mexican authorities, 
all of the goods confiscated, and the owners imprisoned 
for nearly nine years, or until a revolution gained them 
their liberty. 

In 1821, one Glenn, of Ohio, set out with a trading 
party, and in due time reached Santa Fe in safety. He 
did so well that on his return his reports fired the am- 
bition of nearly all the Indian traders on the South- 
western frontier, and the next Spring saw extensive 
preparations under way for Santa Fe by many of the 
most venturesome of the frontier merchants. For the 
first eighteen years of this trade everything in the shape 
of goods was, as a matter of course, packed upon horses 
and mules, and the trail was across the plains over moun- 
tains and through deep cafions by the most direct route 
to the point of destination. In 1824 a company of traders 
from Missouri started out with twenty-five stout, well- 
loaded road wagons, and after many interesting and 
exciting incidents reached Santa Fe in safety, thus dem- 
onstrating the fact that an open and practical roadway 
for wagons existed from the Missouri River to Santa Fe, 
a thing which up to this time would have been scouted 
and jeered at by any of the old packers on the Santa Fe 
trail. 

"Naturally enough," we read, "as a great part of this 
new route passed through Indian country, in the course 
of time trouble developed with the Indians. It probably 
grew up from faults upon both sides. 



56 OUR UNITED STATES 

"The Indians demanded toll in the shape of presents 
from the large and well-armed trains, and took what 
they wished from the weaker ones. Again the records 
show that the white men on more than one occasion were 
overbearing and insolent to the squaws and unjust in 
their dealings with the Indians. At any rate a state of 
war eventually ensued, and the Santa Fe trail became a 
dangerous one, and the trains were liable to attack from 
the Lepans, Comanches, and Arapahoes at almost any 
point between the Missouri and the Arkansas Rivers. 

"From this time forward trouble constantly ensued, so 
that in the Spring of 1829 the United States Govern- 
ment gave both cavalry and infantry escorts from Inde- 
pendence, Mo., the point from which these caravans 
started, to as far as Choteau Island on the Arkansas 
River — that is, through the Comanche country. 

"This Western overland trade to Mexico reached its 
climax in 1843, when the caravan consisted of nearly 
three hundred wagons carrying merchandise valued at 
half a million dollars. 

"About that time, however, supplies began to come into 
northern Mexico from Vera Cruz on the Mexican coast, 
and heavy duties laid and enforced by the Mexicans left 
no adequate margin of profit for the overland traders, 
so that it steadily decreased until after the Mexican War, 
when it revived again for a few years; but in time the 
Santa Fe Railway absorbed it all, and to-day the great 
Santa Fe trail is simply a matter of half forgotten story." 

It is not within the scope of this volume to enter into 
details of the numerous Indian campaigns, but more par- 
ticularly to demonstrate by a few illustrations, tfie varied 
calls made upon the United States Army Officer at times 
when the East considered the great West serenely enjoy- 
ing security and peace. 



ARMY 57 

The advance of the settlements was universally 
acknowledged to be a necessity of our national develop- 
ment ; the western settler fought the battle of civilization 
under the same circumstances and with the same deter- 
mination as did our forefathers on the Atlantic shores. 
The citizen of the East is in the habit of considering the 
power of the United States invincible, but the wild tribes 
of western savages who had not felt or seen it, did not 
so regard it. The white settler looked to the Army for 
defense. The Indians also learned in time to appeal to 
the military for the protection of their rights and privi- 
leges. The Army was called upon to render assistance 
to friendly tribes when attacked by marauders, whether 
Indian, White or Mexican. 

In his report November 1, 1868, Lieutenant General 
W. T. Sherman, writing from the Headquarters Military 
Division of Missouri, described the condition of Indian 
affairs in the country west of the Mississippi River to 
the Rocky Mountains, including New Mexico, Utah, and 
Montana. The military departments of Missouri, Platte, 
and Dakota were then commanded by Generals Sheri- 
dan, Angur and Terry. 

"You will observe," writes Sherman, "that while the 
country generally has been at peace, the people on the 
plains and the troops of my command have been con- 
stantly at war, enduring all its dangers and hardships, 
with none of its honors or rewards." 

After describing the conditions in Sheridan's depart- 
ment, he cites the fearful condition of affairs in the 
vicinity of Denver, Colorado, telegraphed by Governor 
Hunt the 4th of September. "Just returned. Fearful 
condition of things here. Nine persons murdered by 
Indians yesterday within a radius of sixty miles," etc., 
and on the 24th of September, Acting Governor Hull 



58 OUR UNITED STATES 

again telegraphed from Denver: "The Indians have 
again attacked our settlements in strong force, obtaining 
possession of the country to within twelve miles of 
Denver. They are more bold, fierce, and desperate in 
their assaults than ever before. It is impossible to drive 
them out and protect the families at the same time." 

Such were the heart-rending appeals for help that 
poured in upon General Sheridan who at this time was 
laboring with every soldier of his command to give all 
possible protection to the scattered people in the wide 
range of country from Kansas to Colorado and New 
Mexico. 

The campaigns of 1868-69 included some of the most 
daring and courageous feats in American history; 
instance Colonel Forsyth in command of fifty scouts, 
who, taking refuge on a small island in mid stream in 
Delaware creek, was beleagured and outnumbered by 
Indians for nine days. At first their mules served as a 
barricade and as these were shot and putrified, they dug 
holes and then threw up earth works, behind which in 
hunger, thirst and heat they defended themselves against 
the enemy. In their desperate plight, two scouts were 
sent to make their way past the Indian sentries to Fort 
Wallace distant over one hundred miles for assistance. 
These men made their flight for life in the face of death 
and starvation, a desperate journey, from the effects of 
which one never recovered. The next day two others 
were sent out with a letter in which Colonel Forsyth 
says in part: 

"I have eight badly and ten slightly wounded men to 
take in, and every animal I had was killed, save seven, 
which the Indians stampeded. Lieutenant Beecher is 
dead. Acting Assistant Surgeon Novers probably can not 
live the night out. He was hit in the head Thursday, 



ARMY 59 

and has spoken but one rational word since. I am 
wounded in two places— in the right thigh, and my left 
leg broken below the knee. ... I can hold out here for 
six days longer if absolutely necessary, but please lose no 

time." 

He does not even mention a painful scalp wound which 
gave him intense pain in his head. Of his condition dur- 
ing those days of danger and anxiety, he writes simply: 

"1 had all I could do to force myself carefully to think 
out the best course to pursue under existing circum- 
stances." 

And in this connection it may be well to illustrate how 
the American soldier meets death in line of duty, to Gen- 
eral Forsyth we are endebted for this simple picture. 
After describing the murderous fire of the Indians he 

writes : 

"Just then Lieutenant Beecher rose from his rifle pit, 
staggering and leaning on his rifle, half dragged himself 
to where I lay, and then calmly lying down by my side, 
laid his face downward on his arm and said quietly and 
simply, 'I have my death wound, General, I am shot in 
the side and dying.' 

" 'Oh, no, Beecher, no. It can't be as bad as that.' 

"'Yes, Good night.' And he sank into semi-uncon- 
sciousness almost immediately. I heard him murmur 
once, 'My poor mother !' but he soon became slightly de- 
Hrious, and at sunset his life went out. 

" 'Good night, good night.' 

"On the morning of the ninth day one of the men lying 
near me suddenly sprang up, and, shading his hand with 
his eyes, shouted, 'There are some moving objects on the 
far hills !' Every well man was on his feet in an instant, 
and then some keen-eyed scout shouted, 'By the God 
above us, it's an ambulance !' The strain was over. It 



60 OUR UNITED STATES 

was Colonel Carpenter's with a troop of Tenth Cavalry." 
The quarter of a century following the Civil War was 
one continual repetition of similar events. The records 
of the period narrate in detail the history that went to 
the forming of that now powerful region which has 
moved the center of population in gigantic strides with 
each census. Every inch the army disputed with the 
Indian, every mile stone should be inscribed as a monu- 
ment to some forgotten soldier killed in defense of the 
rights of the settlers. 



CHAPTER VI 
Lieutenant Whipple's Surveys and Adventures 

One of the first journeys for the survey of the much 
disputed boundary between the United States and Mex- 
ico, was undertaken by a small detachment of regulars 
under Lieutenant A. W. Whipple in 1849. This was 
followed a few years later by a second important expedi- 
tion under Lieutenant Whipple in connection with the 
surveys for the transcontinental railroad. 

Lieutenant Whipple's journal reads like a romance and 
his description of the conditions under which his work 
was accomplished is graphic and absorbing. His jour- 
ney to the junction of the Rio Gila and the Colorado 
was not a lengthy one. It covered only two months, but 
he nevertheless found it crowded with adventure and 
full to overflowing with the romance of the open. Hav- 
ing received his instructions and completed his prelim- 
inary arrangement, he engaged one Tomaso as guide and 
Indian interpreter and started September 11, 1849 from 
the mission of San Diego for the Junction of the Rio 
Gila with the Colorado. In his journal he writes: 

''Tomaso is chief of the tribe of Indians called 
Llegeenos, or Diegeenos. Whether this was their origi- 
nal appellation, or they were so named by the Franciscans 
from San Diego, the principal mission among them, I 
could not learn. According to Tomaso, his tribe num- 
bers about 8,000 persons, all speaking the same language, 

61 



62 OUR UNITED STATES 

and occupying the territory from San Louis Rey to Aqua 
Caliente. 

"The mission of San Diego, about five miles from the 
town and ten from the plaza of San Diego, is a large pile 
of adobe buildings now deserted and partly in ruins. 
There remains an old Latin library, and the chapel walls 
are yet covered with oil paintings, some of which possess 
considerable merit. In front there is a large vineyard, 
where not only delicious grapes, but olives, figs and other 
fruits, are produced abundantly. In the days of their 
prosperity, for many miles around, the valleys and plains 
were covered with cattle and horses belonging to this 
mission; and the padres boasted that their yearly 
increase was greater than the Indians could possibly 
steal. But in California the sun of their glory is set 
forever. Nearby stand the thatched huts of the Indians, 
formerly serfs or peons — now the sole occupants of the 
mission grounds. They are indolent and filthy, with 
more of the vices acquired from the whites than of the 
virtues supposed to belong to their race. Some of them 
live to a great age, and one old woman, said to be far 
advanced on her second century, looks like a shrivelled 
piece of parchment, and is visited as a curiosity. Many 
of these Indians, men, women, and children, assembled 
on the bank of the stream, apparently to witness the 
novelty of a military procession. But a pack of cards 
was produced, and seating themselves upon the ground 
to a game of moute, they were so absorbed in the amuse- 
ment as to seem unconscious of our departure. 

"Our route leads over steep hills, uncultivated and bar- 
ren excepting a few fields of wild oats. No trees; no 
water in sight from the time of leaving the mission until 
we again strike the valley of the river of San Diego, 
half a mile from Santa Monica, the rancheria of Don 



ARMY 63 

Miguel de Pederina, now occupied by his father-in-law, 
the prefect of San Diego, Don Jose Antonio Esedillo. 
The hill tops are white with a coarse quartzose granite, 
but as we approached the ranch of Don Miguel the foli- 
age of the trees that fringe the bank of the Rio San 
Diego, formed an agreeable relief to the landscape. 
Here the river contains a little running water, but before 
reaching the mission it disappears from the surface, and 
at San Diego is two feet below the bed of shining mica- 
ceous sand. Maize, wheat, barley, vegetables, melons, 
grapes, and other fruits, are now produced upon this 
ranch in abundance. With irrigation the soil and cli- 
mate are suitable for the cultivation of most of the pro- 
ductions of the globe. But the mansion houses of such 
great estates in California are wretched dwellings, with 
mud walls and thatched roofs. The well trodden earth 
forms the floor, and although wealth abounds, with many 
luxuries, few of the conveniences and comforts of life 
seem known. 

"Upon entering San Felipe, twenty-six miles from 
Santa Isabel, we found several parties of emigrants, 
some of them destitute of provisions. They tell us that 
upon the desert we shall find many in a condition bor- 
dering upon starvation. They also confirm the reports 
of the emigrants at San Diego, concerning the hos- 
tilities committed by the Indians at the mouth of the 
Rio Gila. 

"September 19. — Left San Felipe at 8 p. m. Trees and 
grass gave place to rocks and sand. About two and half 
leagues from San Felipe we entered the dry bed of an 
arroyo, which traversed for nearly a league a narrow 
winding ravine, produced by a fault in the mountains. 
The width in some places was barely sufficient to admit 
the passage of our wagons, while the perpendicular 



64 OUR UNITED STATES 

height of the rock, on either side, was at least fifteen 
feet. Encamped at El Puerto, three and a half leagues 
from San Felipe, where we found springs of water, a 
little grass, but no wood. Here we found many emi- 
grants, who gave the same dreary account of the desert 
— much sand and no grass. One of the men showed me 
a piece of lead ore, apparently containing silver. 

"September 21. — The day was so warm that we were 
compelled to lie by at Vallecita until about 5^ p. m., 
when we pursued our route down the valley, which soon 
stretched out into a plain. The road followed a bed of 
sand, in which the feet of our horses, sank below the fet 
lock at every step. The scenery here, by moonlight was 
beautiful. The hills in the background, with angles 
sharp and sides perpendicular, were singular in the 
extreme. By the dim light it was hard to believe that 
they were not ruins of ancient works of art — one had 
been a temple to the gods, another a regularly bastioned 
fort. Vegetation in the valley remains unchanged; 
cacti, maguey, kreosote, dwarf cedar, and the fouquiera 
spinosa, are abundant. 

"Arrived at Cariso creek, fifteen miles from Vallecita, 
eight from Parmetto spring, at midnight. Found the 
water of the creek quite brackish, mules and horses 
would scarcely taste it, thirsty as they were. One hun- 
dred Indians are employed on this ranch in cultivating 
the soil, doing the menial household service, and attend- 
ing to the flocks and herds. Their pay is a mere trifle 
and Sundays are allowed to them for holiday amuse- 
ments — attending mass, riding, gaming, drinking. . . . 

"Pursuing our journey, we were surprised to find pools 
of water standing in the road, although there had been 
no rain, probably, for months. 

"On the morning of September 18th, we took an early 



ABMY 65 

start, and, as the short cut of sixteen miles to San FeUpe 
is not passable for wagons, we proceeded in a northerly 
direction towards Warner's ranch. The valleys through 
which our route leads are really charming for California. 
The groves of oaks are filled with birds of song, and 
morning is made joyous with the music of the lark and 
black bird. 

^'Having traversed the long valley of Warner's ranch, 
eight miles from Santa Isabel, we struck the much trav- 
elled emigrant road, leading from the Colorado to El 
Pueblo de los Angeles. 

"Of food for them there was none; the emigrants 
had consumed every blade of grass and every stick of 
cane, so that our sorrowful animals were tied in 
groups to the wagons to ponder their fate upon the 
desert. 

"Saturday, September 22d. — The sun was perhaps half 
an hour high when our hungry animals were again put 
in harness. We are now fairly upon the desert; sandy 
hills behind — a dreary, desolate plain before us, far as 
the eye can reach. Twelve miles from Cariso creek 
stopped to dig for water, but in vain; thermometer 106° 
in the shade. 

"There appeared in the east a cloud, which soon 
assumed that peculiar appearance which often precedes 
a violent storm. A dark mass approached, a hurricane 
was upon us, and we were enveloped in a cloud of sand ; 
the mules were driven from their path, the canvas 
covers were torn to shreds, and the wagons themselves 
in danger of being upset. For fifteen minutes we were 
blinded, when a torrent of rain quieted the dust. A 
shower of hail succeeded, and the men, throwing them- 
selves upon the ground, hid their faces in the sand for 
protection. There was neither flash nor report of light- 



66 OUR UNITED STATES 

ening for an hour. It came at length as night was clos- 
ing in, to add sublimity to the scene. Pools and streams 
of water appeared in every direction, and spots upon the 
parched desert which two hours before seemed never to 
have been kissed even by a gentle dew, now afforded 
bucketfuls of water for the thirsty mules. 

"It was dark when one of the party returned, saying 
that the road led into a lake, which he had been unable 
to find his way across. At this time our parties were 
greatly scattered — some far -in advance, others far 
behind. With us were neither tents or provisions ; to 
encamp was hence impossible. Thinking that the extent 
of the inundation could not be great, we entered the 
water and pushed onward. For a mile, at least, we 
traversed this lake-like sheet of water, the mules wading 
to their knees at every step, and still the chains of light- 
ening that seemed to encircle us showed, far as the eye 
could reach, nothing but water. Yes, there was one spot 
of land visible — Signal Mountain, about five miles dis- 
tant; and after a brief consultation, we turned towards 
it. Wandering about at night in an unheard of lake, not 
knowing in what gulf the next step might plunge us, 
would have been sufficiently romantic without the storm 
which still raged unabated, the lightening which blinded, 
and the thunder which stunned us. At length the camp 
fire of the advance party was discovered and served as 
a beacon to lead us safely into port. The tired mules 
loudly expressed their gladness at reaching terra firma, 
and finding twenty-five miles from Cariso creek, a rest- 
ing place at camp. There is no grass here; but a rank 
growth of what is called 'careless weed' is very abund- 
ant. This affords little nutriment; the hungry animals, 
however, prefer weeds to nothing. At 11 p. m. the stars 
were shining brightly, and scarcely a cloud was to be 



ARMY 67 

seen. Lieutenant Couts, commander of the escort, 
thinks that during the storm he felt an earthquake. 

"September 28. — Left 'Lagoon' at 4 a. m. and by the 
aid of Venus whose Hght was so strong as to cast a 
decided shadow, we ascended a bank to the upper desert. 

"We moved on east over the desert, covered with 
pebbles of jasper or deep drifting sand, and without 
shells, with no green thing to relieve the eye save the 
larrea Mexicana, which covets solitude. Twenty miles 
brought us again upon the steep sand bank which long 
had bounded our horizon. We descended eighty to one 
hundred feet into the mesquite-covered Canada, or val- 
ley, extending from this point, about twenty miles in 
width, to the Rio Colorado. We pursued a northeast 
course, parallel to the bank which bounds the desert 
proper, for seven miles, to the 'Three Wells.' Here 
we encamped, twenty-seven miles from the 'Lagoon.' 
The wells are dug ten feet deep, at the bottom of a small 
natural basin, which seems scooped from the plain. 

"Until October 1st we remained at the lower crossing 
of the Colorado, waiting for a road to be cut upon the 
right bank, five miles to the emigrant crossing. Our 
Indian neighbors were very sociable, bringing us grass, 
beans, melons, and squashes, for which they received in 
return tobacco or money. 

"The basin of our road along the bank of the Colorado 
was an Indian foot path, which wound around every tree 
that time had thrown across its ancient track, doubling 
the true distance. Passing through a forest of cotton- 
wood and willow we came to the foot of 'Pilot Knob.' 
Here we encamped. 'Pilot Knob' is an isolated moun- 
tain, and rises above us to the height of about fifteen 
hundred feet. We ascend the highest peak to fire 
rockets for signals from Sierra, beyond the desert. 



68 OUR UNITED STATES 

"Tuesday, October 2, 1849.— Left the foot of 'Pilot 
Knob' and travelled on through groves of mezquite, 
upon the bank of the Colorado. Not an Indian had we 
seen since leaving the village of Santjago; but Tomaso, 
with some alarm, pointed out fresh foot-prints in the 
path we followed. 

"In search of the way I soon found myself separated 
from the escort and alone, following a well trodden 
path. Eager to reach my destination, I pushed on for 
an Indian guide. At length the winding path led me 
into a village of the Yumas. As I rode to the principal 
hut, without even an interpreter, I felt myself imprudent 
in thus throwing myself into the power of these savages. 
They at once surrounded me. One with an emerald 
pendant from his nose held the bridle of my mule, some 
played with my pistols, others handled my sword. 
Seeming to put perfect confidence in their honesty, I 
nevertheless watched them narrowly while I endeavoured 
to explain in Spanish the object of my visit. Him with 
the jewelled nose I found to be Anton, a petty chief or 
captain of his village; he understood but little Spanish. 
Soon there rode up, upon a spirited horse, an Indian, 
whom I found to be a Comoya from San Felipe, called 
*Mal Anton,' and with him I could converse. They 
having consented to guide me to the mouth of the Rio 
Gila, I shook off the curious men, women, and children 
that nearly buried my mule, and rode on. . . . 

"Wednesday, October 3. — To-day came Pablo, grand 
chief of the Yumas, with his scarlet coat trimmed with 
gold lace, his epaulets of silver wire, and, to crown all, 
green goggles. His legs and feet were bare, but he did 
not allow that to detract from the dignity of his man- 
ner. Tomaso ushered him in and acted as interpreter, 
translating my Spanish into Indian for him, and his 



ARMY 69 

Indian into Spanish for me. I explained to him that 
their territory now belonged to the United States, that 
the government took an interest in the welfare of those 
Indians who were honest and well-disposed; that we 
were inclined to live in amity with him, but were pre- 
pared to chastise those evilly inclined. He promised 
that his people should not steal from or otherwise injure 
Americans, and I gave him those presents that I had 
prepared. Having taken a glass of aquardiete, his 
tongue was loosed, his dignity was overcome, and he no 
longer needed an interpreter; Pablo spoke Spanish bet- 
ter, by far, than I could. 

"Friday, October 5, 1849. — To-day the Indians of the 
Yuma tribe held a grand council, in honor of our arrival ; 
and, as Pablo Coclum, the great chief in epaulets and 
green goggles, had been chosen under the Mexican reign, 
they determined to show their adherence to the United 
States by deposing their old chief, and, in a republican 
manner, electing a new one. The successful candidate 
was our old friend Santjago, captain of the band of the 
Cuchans at the lower crossing. He seems a good, old 
man, and worthy of his honors. Upon his election, he 
was escorted to my tent for the customary presents and 
promised good faith towards all Americans. 

"October 25. — Continued the survey at the junction of 
the two rivers. . . . Both rivers are rapid, and their 
junction forms a distinctly marked and nearly straight 
line, leading from the east bank of the Gila to the chan- 
nel of the Colorado. They unite, and, singularly 
enough, contract to one-fifth the width of the Colorado 
above, in order to leap through a narrow gorge which 
some convulsion of nature has torn through an isolated 
hill. Upon this hill, eighty feet perpendicular almost 
above the water, stands our observatory. 



70 OUR UNITED STATES 

"October 30. — This morning, at about 4 o'clock, there 
was great alarm among the Cuchans (Yumas), who live 
upon the left bank of the Colorado. Our whole camp 
was aroused by their shouting and firing. By daylight 
they were swimming the river in crowds — men with their 
horses and women with their children — all crying out 
lustily, 'Maricopa! Maricopa!' Every hill top was 
crowded with armed warriors, and others were riding 
hither and thither — why or wherefore, none seemed to 
know. At length Anton told me that many Maricopas 
had attacked them, and killed one Yuma. By 10 o'clock, 
A. M. our camp was deserted by the Indians, and for the 
rest of the day not one has been seen. The soldiers 
think the whole story of Maricopas a ruse, and appre- 
hend an attack to-night. Lieutenant Couts has in- 
creased the number of sentinels for the night. 

^'Friday, November 23. — Having been employed so 
steadily in observing at night, and computing all day, 
my health begins to suffer, and last night I was too 
nervous to sleep; hence the wails of the poor dog that 
nightly howls the requiem of his drowned master seemed 
more sad to me than ever. When Captain Thorne was 
lost in the Colorado, some weeks since, a Mexican boy 
shared the same fate. He left a faithful dog, which has 
declined the alluring invitations of emigrants and 
soldiers, preferring rather to lick the ground his master 
last trod than accept the daintiest fare from a stranger's 
hand. 

"Saturday, December 1, 1849. — Having determined, 
with all the accuracy which two month's time would per- 
mit, the latitude (32° 43' 4" west of Greenwich) of the 
monument near the junction of the Rio Gila with the 
Colorado, and from thence measured 85° 34' 2" west of 
south, the azimuth of the straight line of boundary lead- 



ABMY 71 

ing to the Pacific Ocean ; and also having settled with the 
Mexican commission, which arrived yesterday, all ques- 
tions relating to the boundary at this point from which 
any difficulty would be apprehended, we left the Mexican 
gentlemen in charge of our fixtures, and turned towards 
San Diego." 



CHAPTER VII 
Gold and the Early Days of California 

The territory recently gained from Mexico, namely, 
California and New Mexico, was the centre of military 
protection following its acquisition and was the chief 
of domestic disturbance between the years 1842 and 
1855. Remote from the seat of government, homoge- 
neous in population, the discovery of gold in California 
precipitated a rush of foreign immigration from which 
arose constant disorder and lawlessness. 

The conditions in San Francisco at this period were 
unique and romantic. "The town is built on the south 
bend of the bay," says a contemporary writer, **near its 
communication with the sea. Its site is a succession of 
barren sand-hills, tumbled up into every variety of shape. 
No leveling process, on a scale of any magnitude has 
been attempted. The buildings roll up and over these 
sand ridges like a shoal of porpoises over the swell of a 
wave, only the fish has much the most order in the dis- 
posal of his head and tail. More incongruous combina- 
tions in architecture never danced in the dreams of men 
— ^brick warehouses, wooden shanties, sheet-iron huts, 
and shaking-tents, are blended in admirable confusion. 
But these grotesque habitations have as much uniformity 
and sobriety as the habits of those who occupy them. 
Hazards are made in commercial transactions, and 
projects of speculation that would throw Wall Street 

72 



ARMY 73 

into spasms. I have seen merchants purchase cargoes 
without having even glanced into the invoice. The con- 
ditions of the sale were a hundred per cent, profits to the 
owner and costs. In one cargo, when tumbled out, were 
found twenty thousand dollars in the single article of 
red cotton handkerchiefs! 'I'll get rid of these among 
the wild Indians,' said the purchaser, with a shrug of the 
shoulders. 'I've a water lot which I will sell,' cries an- 
other. 'Which way does it stretch?' inquire half a 
dozen. 'Right under the craft there,' is the reply. 'And 
what do you ask for it?' 'Fifteen thousand dollars.' 
'I'll take it.' 'Then down with the dust.' So the water 
lot, which mortal eyes never beheld, changes its owners, 
without changing its fish. 'I have two shares in a gold- 
mine,' cries another. 'Where are they?' inquire the 
crowd. 'Under the south branch of the Zuba River, 
which we have almost turned,' is the reply. 'And what 
will you take?' 'Fifteen thousand dollars.' 'I'll give 
ten.' 'Take it, stranger.' So the two shares of a pos- 
sibility of gold, under a branch of the Zuba, where the 
water still rolls, rapid and deep, are sold for ten thou- 
sand dollars, paid down. Is there anything in the Ara- 
bian Nights that surpasses this?" 

"Three years ago," he continues, "and San Francisco 
contained three thousand souls; now she has a popula- 
tion of twenty-seven thousand. Then, a building lot 
within her limits cost fifteen dollars; now, the same lot 
cannot be purchased at a less sum than fifteen thousand. 
Then, her commerce was confined to a few Indian 
blankets, and Mexican reboses and beads ; now, from two 
to three hundred merchant-men are unloading their 
costly cargoes on her quay. Then, the famished whaler 
could hardly find a temporary relief in her markets; 
now, she has phrenzied the world with her wealth. 



74 OUR UNITED STATES 

Then, Benicia was a pasture, covered with lowing herds ; 
now, she is a commercial mart, threatening to rival her 
sister nearer the sea. Then Stockton and Sacramento 
City were covered with wild oats, where the elk and deer 
gamboled at will; now, they are laced with streets and 
walled with warehouses through which the great tide of 
commerce rolls off into a hundred mountain glens. 
Then, the banks of the Sacramento and San Joaquin 
were cheered only by the curling smoke of the Indians 
hut; now, they throw on the eye, at every bend, the 
cheerful aspect of some new hamlet or town. Then, the 
silence of the Sierra Nevada was broken only by the 
voice of its streams ; now every cavern and cliff is echo- 
ing under the blows of the sturdy miner. The wild 
horse, startled in his glen, leaves on the hill the clatter 
of his hoofs, while the huge bear, roused from his patri- 
monial jungle, grimly retires to some new mountain- 
fastness. 

"But I must drop this contrast of the past with the 
present and glance at a few facts which affect the future. 
The gold deposits, which have hitherto been discovered, 
are confined, mainly, to the banks and beds of perpetual 
streams, or the bottoms of ravines, through which roll 
the waters of the transient freshet. These deposits are 
the natural results of the law of gravitation; the treas- 
ures which they contain must have been washed from the 
slopes of the surrounding hills. The elevations, like 
spendthrifts, seem to have parted entirely with their 
golden inheritance, except what may linger still in the 
quartz. And these gold-containing quartz will be found 
to have their confined localities; they will crown the 
insular peaks of a mountain-ridge, or fret the verge of 
some extinguished volcano; they have never been found 
in a continuous range, except in the dreams of enchant- 



ARMY 75 

ment; you might as Well look for a wall of diamonds or 
a solid bank of pearls. Nature has played off many a 
prodigal caprice in California, but a mountain of gold is 
not one of them. The alluvial gold will at no distant 
day be measurably exhausted, and the miners be driven 
into the mountains. Here, the work can be successfully 
prosecuted only by companies, with heavy capitals. All 
the uncertainties which are connected with mining opera- 
tions, will gather around these enterprises. Wealth will 
reward the labors of the few, whose success was mainly 
the result of good fortune, while disappointment will 
attend the efforts of the many, equally skilful and per- 
severing. These wide inequalities in the proceeds of the 
miner's labor, have exhibited themselves, wherever a 
gold deposit has been hunted or found in California. 
The past is a reliable prophecy of the future. 

"Not one in ten thousand who have gone, or may go 
to California to hunt for gold, will return with a fortune ; 
still the great tide for emigration will set there, till her 
valleys and mountain-glens teem with a hardy enterpris- 
ing population. As the gold deposits diminish or 
become more difficult of access, the quicksilver mines 
will call forth their unflagging energies. This metal 
slumbers in her mountain spurs in massive richness; the 
process is simple which converts it into that form, 
through which the mechanic arts subserve the thousand 
purposes of science and social refinement, while the med- 
ical profession, through its strange abuse, keep up a Car- 
nival in the Court of Death ; but for this, they who mine 
the ore are not responsible — they will find their reward 
in the wealth which will follow their labors. It will be 
in their power to silence the hammers of those mines 
which have hitherto monopolized the markets of the 
world But the enterprise and wealth of California are 



76 OUR UNITED STATES 

not confined to her mines. Her ample forests of oak, 
redwood and pine, only wait the requisite machinery to 
convert them into elegant residences and strong-ribbed 
ships. Her exhaustive quarries of granite and marble 
will yet pillar the domes of metropolitan splendor and 
pride. The hammer and drill will be relinquished by 
multitudes for the plough and sickle. Her arable land, 
stretching through her spacious valleys, and along the 
broad banks of her rivers, will wave the golden harvest; 
the rain-cloud may not visit her in the summer months, 
but the mountain stream will be induced to throw its 
showers over her thirsty plains. 

"Such was California a few years since — such is she 
now, and such will she become even before they who now 
rush to her shores, find their footsteps within the 
shadows of the pale realm." 

Vivid as is this picture of the newly acquired domain, 
real as were the problems confronting the territories 
described, and grave as were the responsibilities upon 
the Federal Government to insure protection and order 
upon boundary and frontier to the settler and home 
builder, the Army of the United States was cut down 
by act of Congress August 14, 1848, from a force of 
30,865 to 10,317 who continued to guard the frontier 
and coast and garrison from sixty to seventy-five posts 
for seven years. By act of Congress March 3, 1855, 
this inconsiderable number was increased to 12,698, at 
which figure they remained until the outbreak of the 
Civil War. 



CHAPTER VIII 
Trouble in Kansas and the Mormon Problem 

The Territories of Kansas and Nebraska were created 
by act of Congress, May 31, 1854. The momentous 
problem whether slavery should be tolerated or not was 
left for solution to the inhabitants of this vast area of 
new country. The stream of settlers who flocked to 
these new fields of enterprise in almost equal numbers 
from New England and the South were rapidly divided 
in political principles and prejudice. Mr. A. H. Reeder 
was appointed the governor of the Territory of Kansas. 

The first election for the Territorial legislature 
occurred at Shawnee Mission, near the Missouri line, 
in March, 1855, and resulted in a pro-slavery majority. 
Most of the laws enacted by this assembly were vetoed 
by the Governor and immediately passed over his veto. 
In August of the next year he was removed from office, 
his successor being Mr. Wilson Shannon of Ohio. 

The anti-slavery citizens not deigning to acknowledge 
the authority of the new executive, assembled in Octo- 
ber, at Topeka, organized another constitution making 
Kansas a free labor State and proposed that it should 
be at once admitted to the Union. Such a pre-emptory 
measure aroused the bitterest partisan hatred and im- 
mediately the seriousness of the situation was evidenced 
by vandalism and personal violence. Men went about 
armed, women and children were driven out of the terri- 

n 



78 OUR UNITED STATES 

tory, secretly organized military companies released pris- 
oners, burned crops, killed cattle and performed in a 
most lawless and outrageous manner. 

In December, 1855, Governor Shannon informed the 
President of the gravity of the situation and requested 
military aid from the United States, to which President 
Pierce promptly responded : "All the power in the 
Executive will be exerted to preserve order and en- 
force the laws." 

The situation grew more grave before the end of Jan- 
uary, 1856, and President Pierce being informed of a 
band of armed Missourians about to enter Kansas 
for the avowed purpose of burning and sacking the 
homes of the free labor citizens, he issued a proclama- 
tion in which he commanded "all persons engaged in 
unlawful combinations against authority of the Territory 
of Kansas or of the United States to disperse and retire 
peaceably to their respective abodes, and to warn all such 
persons that any attempted insurrections in said Terri- 
tory or aggressive intrusion into the same will be resisted 
not only by the employment of the local militia, but also 
by that of any available forces of the United States" 
and "If, in any part of the Union, the fury of faction or 
fanaticism, inflamed into disregard of the great principles 
of popular sovereignty, which, under the Constitution, 
are fundamental in the whole structure of our institu- 
tions, is to bring on the country the dire calamity of an 
arbitrament of arms in that Territory, it shall be between 
lawless violence on the one side and conservative force 
on the other, wielded by legal authority of the General 
Government." 

Following this statement with instructions through the 
Secretary of War to Colonel Sumner at Fort Leaven- 
worth, and to Colonel Cooke at Fort Riley that upon the 



ARMY 79 

requisition of the Governor aid should be promptly ren- 
dered, the Secretary concluded in these words : 

"You will exercise much caution to avoid, if possible, 
collision with even insurgent citizens, and will endeavor 
to suppress resistance to the law and constituted authori- 
ties by that moral force which, happily, in our country, 
is ordinarily sufficient to secure respect to the laws of the 
land and the regularly constituted authorities of the 
Government. You will use a sound discretion, as to the 
moment at which the further employment of the mili- 
tary force may be discontinued and avail yourself of the 
first opportunity to return with your command to the 
more grateful and prouder service of the soldier, that 
of common defense." 

A number of Missourians armed and enroled as a 
posse of the United States Marshal centered in the 
neighborhood of Lawrence, where on the 21st of April 
the Marshal and several hundred rioters burned and 
plundered a large number of houses. At Osawatomie 
five men were killed, and shortly after another was killed 
at Black Jack. Not satisfied with the methods pursued 
by Governor Shannon and convinced of his inability to 
restore order, the President removed him from office and 
appointed John W. Geary of Pennsylvania, who arrived 
at Fort Leavenworth on the 9th of September. 

He proceeded at once to disband the volunteer militia 
whose partisan attitude made them more than useless and 
directed the enrolment of a militia, meanwhile ordering 
all armed bodies to leave at once. Little heed was given 
to these orders and the pro-slavery Missourians pro- 
ceeded to organize themselves into armed bodies and 
march upon Lawrence. 

Without further delay. Governor Geary asked for the 
aid of the Federal troops at Fort Riley who under 



80 OUR UNITED STATES 

Colonel Cooke proceeded at once to Lawrence accom- 
panied by the Governor. The so-called "Territorial 
Militia" gathered at this point were in command of Mis- 
sourians. After considerable parleying they were per- 
suaded to disband. A number of other calls for Federal 
assistance were exacted during the following months. 
Gradually quiet was restored and the peaceful avoca- 
tions of the citizens of Kansas were resumed until 1857, 
when great excitement was engendered by the bill in 
Congress for the admission of the Territory of Kansas 
into statehood under the Topeka constitution. The dis- 
turbances were again revived, centering in Lawrence, 
which became the headquarters of a dangerous rebellion. 

Governor Robert J. Walker of Michigan, had suc- 
ceeded Governor Geary under the Buchanan administra- 
tion; he called upon General Harney "to act as posse 
comitatus in aid of the civil authorities." Lieutenant 
Colonel Cooke, with seven companies of First Dragoons 
was sent to the scene of disturbance. 

The elections of the autumn passed off without dis- 
order, but the administration felt it imperative to keep a 
considerable force of Federal troops prepared to act at 
any moment should riots or disorders become prevalent. 
Though partisan feeling was not quieted until January 
29, 1861, when Kansas was finally admitted to the Union, 
the presence of Federal authority, within the limits of 
the territory, prevented insurrection and bloodshed. 

In the latter part of July, 1847, Brigham Young with 
a company of followers, had reached Utah and estab- 
lished the first "stakes" for the great body of the saints 
which arrived in the fall of 1848. 

The following year a convention was held at Great 
Salt Lake City for the organization of a State to be 
called "Deseret" meaning "the land of the honey bee." 



ARMY 81 

Congress refused to accept the Deseret constitution, but 
recognizing the necessity of local government in this far 
away country, proceeded to organize it into the territory 
of Utah, and President Filmore appointed Brigham 
Young its governor. Immediately trouble arose between 
the prophet and the Federal authorities. Gentile judges 
appointed to hold office in the new territory were driven 
from the state. 

The troubles in Kansas and the prevailing excitement 
incident to the slavery question had made the Federal 
government more or less indifferent to the situation in 
Utah. Nevertheless, outrages of both public and private 
character became so frequent that in the Spring of 1857, 
President Buchanan summarily removed Brigham 
Young and appointed Alfred Gumming, then superin- 
tendent of Indian Affairs on the Upper Missouri, Gov- 
ernor of the territory, and Judge Eckles of Indiana, 
Chief Justice ; other gentlemen were appointed to fill the 
offices left vacant by those Federal officers who had been 
obliged to leave, and the President ordered a military 
force to accompany these officers to Utah and to aid as 
a posse comitatus. 

In his first annual message to Congress, December 8, 
1857, President Buchanan informed Congress ofi his 
action ; he said in part : 

"The people of Utah almost exclusively belong to this 
(Mormon) church, and, believing with a fanatical spirit 
that he (Young) is Governor of the Territory by divine 
appointment, they obey his commands as if they were 
direct revelations from Heaven. If, therefore, he 
chooses that his government shall come into collisions 
with the government of the United vStates, the members 
of the Mormon church will yield implicit obedience to 
his will. Unfortunately, existing facts leave but little 



82 OUR UNITED STATES 

doubt that such is his determination. Without entering 
upon a minute history of occurrences, it is sufficient to 
say that all the officers of the United States, judicial and 
executive, with the single exception of two Indian 
agents, have found it necessary for their own safety to 
withdraw from the territory, and there no longer re- 
mained any government in Utah but the despotism of 
Brigham Young. This being the condition of affairs in 
the Territory, I could not mistake the path of duty. 
As chief magistrate I was bound to restore the suprem- 
acy of the constitution and laws within its limits. In 
order to effect this purpose, I appointed a new governor 
and other Federal officers for Utah, and sent with them a 
military force for their protection, and to aid as a posse 
comitatus in case of need in the execution of the laws. 

"With the religion of the Mormons, as long as it 
remained mere opinion, however deplorable and revolt- 
ing to the moral and religious sentiments of all Christen- 
dom, I have no right to interfere. Actions alone, when 
in violation of the Constitution of the United States, 
become the legitimate subjects for the civil magistrate. 
My instructions to Governor Cumming have, therefore, 
been framed in strict accordance with these principles." 

General Scott upon being consulted had advised a 
delay of the expedition until the following Spring. Gen- 
eral Harney was assigned to the command. Immediate 
preparations for the expedition were set in motion at 
Fort Leavenworth. The military force gathered at 
Leavenworth numbered about 2,500 officers and men, 
including the Second Regiment of Dragoons, the Fifth 
and Tenth regiments of infantry and Phelps's battery of 
eight artillery. The line of march was the emigrant 
road across the Plains first broken by the Indians, to be 
followed by the trappers and voyageurs, and subsequently 



ARMY 83 

explored by Lieutenant Colonel Fremont, the most 
remarkable natural road in the world. 

"Throughout this vast line of road, the only white 
inhabitants are the garrisons of the military posts, the 
keepers of mail stations, and voyageurs and mountaineers, 
whose cabins may be found in every locality favourable 
to Indian trade. These are a singular race of men, fast 
disappearing, like the Indian and the buffalo, their neigh- 
bours. Most of them are of French extraction, and some 
have died without having learned to speak a word of 
English. Their wealth consists in cattle and horses, and 
little stocks of goods which they purchase from the set- 
tlers at the forts or the merchants at Salt Lake City. 
Some of the more considerable among them have the 
means of sending to the States for an annual supply of 
blankets, beads, vermillion, and other stuff for Indian 
traffic; but the most are thriftless, and all are living in 
concubinage or marriage with squaws, and surrounded 
by troops of unwashed, screeching half-breeds. Once in 
from three to six years, they will make a journey to St. 
Louis, and gamble away so much of their savings since 
the last visit as has escaped being wasted over greasy 
card-tables during the long winter evenings among the 
mountains. The Indian tribes along the way are numer- 
ous and formidable, the road passing through country 
occupied by Pawnees, Cheyennes, Sioux, Arapahoes, 
Crows, Snakes, and Utahs. With the Cheyennes war 
had been waged by the United States for more than 
two years, which interfered seriously with the expedition ; 
for, during the month of June, a war party from that 
tribe intercepted and dispersed the herd of beef cattle 
intended for the use of the army. 

'The characteristics of the entire route are as unprom- 
ising as those of its inhabitants. At the distance of about 



84 OUR UNITED STATES 

two hundred miles from the Missouri frontier the soil 
becomes so pervaded by sand, that only scientific agricul- 
ture can render it available. Along the Platte there is 
no fuel. Not a tree is visible, except the thin fringe 
of cottonwoods on the margin of the river, all of which, 
upon the south bank, where the road runs, were hewed 
down and burned at every convenient camp, during the 
great California emigration. When the Rocky Moun- 
tains are entered, the only vegetation found is bunch- 
grass, so called because it grows in tufts, — and the 
artemisia, or wild sage, an odorous shrub, which some- 
times attains the magnitude of a tree, with a fibrous 
trunk as thick as a man's thigh, but is ordinarily a bush 
about two feet in height. The bunch-grass, grown at 
such an elevation, possesses extraordinary nutritive prop- 
erties, even in midwinter. About the middle of January 
a new growth is developed underneath the snow, forcing 
off the old dry blade that ripened and shed the seed the 
previous summer. From Fort Kearny to Fort Laramie, 
almost the only fuel to be obtained is the dung of buffalo 
and oxen, called, in the vocabulary of the region, 'chips,* 
— the argal of the Tartar deserts. Among the moun- 
tains the sage is the chief material of the travellers' fire. 
It burns with a lively, ruddy flame, and gives out an 
intense heat. In the settlements of Utah all the wood 
consumed is hauled from the canons, which are usually 
lined with pines, firs, and cedars, while the broadsides of 
the mountains are nothing but terraces of volcanic rock. 
The price of wood in Salt Lake City is from twelve to 
twenty dollars a cord. 

*Trom this brief review of the natural features of the 
country, some idea may be formed of the intensity of the 
religious enthusiasm which has induced fifty thousand 
Mormon converts to traverse it, — many of them on foot 



ARMY 85 

and trundling hand carts, — to seek a home among the 
valleys of Utah, in a region hardly more propitious ; and 
some idea, also, of the difficulties which were to attend 
the march of the army." 

Captain Stewart Van Vliet, of General Harney's staff, 
had preceded the advance of the troops, having left Fort 
Leavenworth, July 28, for the purpose of visiting Salt 
Lake City, to arrange for the purchase of forage and 
lumber, interview Brigham Young, ascertain the dispo- 
sition of the Mormon church and the citizens of Utah 
toward the Government of the United States and assure 
the Mormons that the approaching Utah expedition 
would not molest or interfere with them. Captain Van 
Vliet reached his destination in thirty-three and a half 
days. When about thirty miles west of Green River he 
was met by a party of Mormons who escorted him accom- 
panied only by his servant to Salt Lake City. He was 
treated with politeness by Brigham Young and other 
officials who called at his quarters the night of his arrival. 
Captain Van Vliet informed these gentlemen of his mis- 
sion and was informed in turn that the Mormon people 
were determined to resist the advance of the troops. 
When told that resistance to Federal authority would be 
useless and that the small army now on its way would 
certainly be re-enforced by a larger one capable of over- 
coming such violent opposition, Brigham replied : "We 
are aware that such will be the case; but when these 
troops arrive they will find Utah a desert, every house 
will be burned to the ground, every tree cut down, and 
every field laid waste. We have three years' provisions 
on hand, which we will cache, and then take to the moun- 
tains and bid defiance to all the powers of the govern- 
ment." 

At a church service the following Sabbath, at which 



86 OUR UNITED STATES 

Captain Van Vliet was present, the congregation num- 
bering more than four thousand, when asked how many- 
would willingly apply the torch to their dwellings and 
lay waste their farms in defiance of the army, every 
hand was raised. Brigham Young in his sermon on that 
day voiced the attitude of his followers in the following 
words : 

"Before I will suffer, as I have in times gone by, there 
shall not one building, nor one foot of lumber, nor a 
fence, nor a tree, nor a particle of grass or hay, that will 
burn, be left in reach of our enemies. I am sworn, if 
driven to extremity, to utterly lay waste this land in the 
name of Israel's God, and our enemies shall find it as 
barren as when we came here." 

Upon the departure of Captain Van Vliet, Brigham 
Young issued to the citizens of Utah a proclamation in 
open defiance of the Government of the United States, 
beginning : 

"We are invaded by a hostile force who are evidently 
assailing us to accomplish our overthrow and destruc- 
tion." 

After stating the supposed wrongs and injustice suf- 
fered by the Mormons at the hands of the government 
and the unreasonableness of the government's present 
position, the proclamation concludes : 

"The issue which has thus been forced upon us com- 
pels ^s to resort to the first law of self-preservation, and 
stand in our own defence, a right guaranteed to us by 
the genius of the constitutions of our country, and upon 
which the government is based. Our duty to ourselves, 
to our families, requires us not to tamely submit to be 
driven and slain, without an attempt to preserve our- 
selves; our duty to our country, our holy religion, our 
God, to freedom and liberty, requires that we should not 



ARMY 87 

quietly stand still and see those fetters forging around 
which were calculated to enslave and bring us in subjec- 
tion to an unlawful military despotism, such as can only 
emanate, in a country of constitutional law, from usurpa- 
tion, tyranny, and oppression. 

"Therefore, I, Brigham Young, Governor and Super- 
intendent of Indian Affairs for the Territory of Utah, in 
the name of the people of the United States in the Terri- 
tory of Utah, forbid: 

"First: All armed forces of every description from 
coming into this Territory, under any pretense whatever. 

"Second : That all forces in said Territory hold them- 
selves in readiness to march at a moment's notice to repel 
any and all such invasions. 

"Third: Martial law is hereby declared to exist in 
this Territory from and after the publication of this 
proclamation, and no person shall be allowed to pass or 
repass into or through or from this Territory without a 
permit from the proper officer. 

"Given under my hand and seal, at Great Salt Lake 
City, Territory of Utah, this 15th day of September^ 
A. D. 1857, and of the independence of the United 
States of America the eighty-second. 

Brigham Young." 

The first intimation of the condition of affairs received 
by the head of the column which had left Fort Leaven- 
worth, July 18th, was reported by Captain Van Vliet 
while passing eastward — other battalions were following 
closely and on the 28th of September arrived at Camp 
Winfield about 30 miles distant from Salt Lake City. 
Brigham Young at once despatched his officers bearing 
his proclamation and a letter directed to Colonel John- 
ston, ordering him to retrace his steps and leave the terri- 



88 OUR UNITED STATES 

tory by the route he had entered or be permitted to 
remain within the territory until Spring upon surrender- 
ing his arms and ammunition to the quartermaster gen- 
eral of the territory. Colonel Alexander in command of 
the advance replied briefly stating his troops were there 
**by the orders of the President of the United States, and 
their future movements and operations will depend 
entirely upon orders issued by competent military author- 
ity." 

Governor Young replied by sending his henchmen to 
intercept and destroy the supply trains destined for the 
United States army. 

"On the night of October 5th, after the last division 
had crossed the river, two supply trains, of twenty-five 
wagons each, were captured and burned just on the bank 
of the stream, by a party of mounted Mormons led by a 
man named Lot Smith, and the next morning another 
party, twenty miles farther east, on the Big Sandy, in 
Oregon Territory. The teamsters were disarmed and 
dismissed, and the cattle stolen. No blood was shed; 
not a shot fired. Immediately upon the news of this 
attack reaching Ham's Fork, Colonel Alexander, who had 
then assumed the command-in-chief, despatched Captain 
Marcy, of the Fifth Infantry, with four hundred men, to 
afford assistance to the trains, and punish the aggressors, 
if possible. But when the Captain reached Green River, 
all that was visible near the little French trading-post 
was two broad, black rings on the ground, bestrewn with 
iron chains and bolts, where the wagons had been burned 
in corral. He was able to do nothing except to send 
orders to the other trains on the road to halt, concentrate, 
and await the escort of Brevet Colonel Smith, of the 
Tenth Infantry, who had started from the frontier in 
August with the two companies mentioned as having 



ARMY 89 

been left behind in Minnesota, and by rapid marches had 
already reached the Sweetwater. The condition of 
affairs at this moment was indeed critical. By the folly 
of Governor Walker's movements in Kansas the expedi- 
tion was deprived of its mounted force, and consisted 
entirely of infantry and artillery. The Mormon maraud- 
ing parties, on the contrary, which it now became evident 
were hovering on every side, were all well mounted and 
tolerably well armed. The loss of three trains more 
would reduce the troops to the verge of starvation before 
Spring in case of inability to reach Salt Lake Valley. 

"In his perplexity, Colonel Alexander called a council 
of war, and, with its approval, resolved to commence a 
march towards Soda Springs, leaving Fort Bridger unmo- 
lested on his left. For more than a fortnight the army 
toiled along Ham's Fork, cutting a road through thickets 
of greasewood and wild sage, encumbered by a train of 
such unwieldy length that often the advance guard 
reached its camp at night before the rear guard had moved 
from the camp of the preceding day, and harassed by 
Mormon marauding parties from the Fort, which hung 
about the flanks out of reach of rifle shot, awaiting oppor- 
tunities to descend on unprotected wagons and cattle. 
The absence of dragoons prevented a dispersion of these 
banditti. Some companies of infantry were, indeed, 
mounted on mules, and sent to pursue them, but these 
only excited their derision. The Mormons nicknamed 
them 'Jackass cavalry.' Their only exploit was the cap- 
ture of a Mormon major and his adjutant, on whose 
person were found orders by D. H. Wells, the command- 
ing General of the Legion, to the various 

detachments of marauders, directing them to burn the 
whole country before the army and on its flanks, to keep 
it from sleep by night surprises, to stampede its animals 



90 OUR UNITED STATES 

and set fire to its trains, to blockade the road by felling 
and destroying river-fords, but to take no life. On the 
13th of October, eight hundred oxen were cut off from 
the rear of the army and driven to Salt Lake Valley. 
Thus the weary column toiled along until it reached the 
spot where it expected to be joined by Colonel Smith's 
battalion, about fifty miles up Ham's Fork. The very 
next day snow fell to the depth of more than a foot." 

On November 4th, Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston 
reached the place of rendezvous with reinforcements of 
cavalry and supply trains in charge of Colonel Smith. 
The expedition was ordered to Fort Bridger, distant thir- 
ty-five miles, where Johnston proposed to establish Win- 
ter quarters. On the 6th of November the advance 
towards that post was commenced. 

"The day was memorable in the history of the expedi- 
tion. Sleet poured down upon the column from morn- 
ing till night. On the previous evening, five hundred 
cattle had been stampeded by the Mormons, in conse- 
quence of which some trains were unable to move at all. 
After struggling along till nightfall, the regiments camped 
wherever they could find shelter under bluffs or among 
willows. That night more than five hundred animals 
perished from hunger and cold and the next morning 
the camp was encircled by their carcasses, coated with a 
film of ice. It was a scene which could be paralleled 
only in the retreat of the French from Moscow. Had 
there been any doubt before concerning the practicability 
of an immediate advance beyond Fort Bridger, none 
existed any longer. It was the 16th of November when 
the vanguard reached that post, which the Mormons had 
abandoned the week before. Nearly a fortnight had been 
consumed in accomplishing less than thirty miles. 

"It is time to return to the States and record what had. 



ABMY 91 

been transpiring there, in connection with the expedition, 
while the army was staggering towards its permanent 
Winter camp. 

"The only one of the newly appointed civil officials who 
was present with the troops was Judge Eckels, who had 
left his home in Indiana immediately after receiving his 
appointment, and started across the Plains with his own 
conveyance. Near Fort Laramie he was overtaken by 
Colonel Smith, whom he accompanied in his progress 
to the main body. Governor Cummings, in the mean- 
while, dilly-dallied in the East, travelling from St. Louis 
to Washington and back again, begging for an increase 
of salary, for a sum of money to be placed at his disposal 
for secret service, and for transportation to the Territory, 
— all which requests, except the last, were denied. 
Towards the close of September, he arrived at Fort 
Leavenworth. Governor Walker had by this time, 
released his hold on the Dragoons, and, notwithstanding 
the advanced period of the season, they were preparing 
to march to Utah. The Governor and most of the other 
civil officers delayed until they started, and travelled in 
their company. The march was attended with the sever- 
est hardships. When they reached the Rocky Moun- 
tains, the snow lay from one to three feet deep on the 
loftier ridges which they were obliged to cross. The 
struggle with the elements, during the last two hundred 
miles before gaining Fort Bridger, was desperate. Near- 
ly a third of the horses died from cold, hunger, and 
fatigue; everything that could be spared was thrown out 
to lighten the wagons, and the road was strewn with 
military accoutrements from the Rocky Ridge to Green 
River. On the 20th of November, Colonel Cooke reached 
the camp with a command entirely incapacitated for 
active service. 



92 OUB UNITED STATES 

"The place selected by Colonel Johnston for the Win- 
ter quarters of the army was on the bank of Black's 
Fork, about two miles above Fort Bridger, on a spot 
sheltered by high bluffs which rise abruptly from the bot- 
tom at a distance of five or six hundred yards from the 
channel of the stream. The banks of the Fork were 
fringed with willow brush and cottonwood trees, blasted 
in some places where the Mormons had attempted to 
deprive the troops of fuel. 

"The Colonel, anticipating a change of encampment, 
determined not to construct quarters of logs or sod for 
the army. A new species of tent, which had just been 
introduced, was served out for its winter dwellings. An 
iron tripod supported a pole from the top of which de- 
pended a slender but strong hoop. Attached to this, the 
canvas sloped to a regular cone. The openings at the 
top caused a draught, by means of which a fire could be 
kept up beneath the tripod without choking the inmates 
with smoke. An Indian lodge had evidently been the 
model of the inventor. Most of the civil officers, how- 
ever, dug square holes in the ground, over which they 
built log huts, plastering the cracks with mud. Their 
little town they named Eckelsville, after the Chief 
Justice. 

"A depot for all the military stores was established at 
Fort Bridger, where a strong detachment was encamped. 

"The work of unloading the trains commenced, and 
after careful computation the Chief Commissary deter- 
mined, that, by an abridgment of the ration, diminishing 
the daily use of flour, and issuing bacon only once a week, 
his supplies would last until the first of June. All the 
beef cattle intended for the use of the army having been 
intercepted by the Cheyennes, it became necessary to kill 
those draught oxen for beef, which survived the march. 



ARMY 93 

Shambles were erected, to which the poor half-starved 
animals were driven by hundreds to be butchered. The 
flesh was jerked and stored carefully in cabins built for 
the purpose." 

Upon unloading the trains a scarcity of many needed 
articles was discovered, only 723 blankets were to supply 
warmth to 2,500 officers and men in an altitude of 7,000 
feet, where the thermometer is liable to fall below zero 
on Winter nights. Only 600 pairs of stockings and 823 
pairs of boots were available for men whose only foot 
gear consisted of worn and battered moccasins. Caps 
to the number of 190 with only 938 coats and 676 great- 
coats were to keep these wretched men warm during the 
freezing Winter. 

"One of the first and most important of Colonel John- 
ston's duties was to provide for the keeping, during the 
Winter of the mules and horses which survived. On 
Black's Fork there was no grass for their support. It 
had either been burned by the Mormons or consumed by 
their cavalry. He decided to send them all to Henry's 
Fork, thirty-five miles south of Fort Bridger, where he 
had at one time designed to encamp with the whole army. 
The regiment of dragoons was detailed to guard them. 
A supply of fresh animals for transportation in the 
Spring was his next care. The settlements in New Mex- 
ico are less than seven hundred miles distant from Fort 
Bridger, and to them he resolved to apply. Captain 
Marcy was the officer selected to lead in the arduous 
expedition. He had been previously distinguished in 
the service by a thorough exploration of the Red River 
of Louisiana. Accompanied by only thirty-five picked 
men, all volunteers, and by two guides, he started for 
Taos, November 27 — an undertaking from which, at 
that season of the year, the most experienced moun- 



94 OUR UNITED STATES 

taineers would have shrunk. A party was despatched at 
the same time to the Flathead country, in Oregon and 
Washington Territories, to procure horses to remount 
the dragoons, and to induce the traders in that region 
to drive cattle down to Fort Bridger for sale. On the 
day of Captain Marcy's departure. Governor Gumming 
issued a proclamation, declaring the Territory to be in 
a state of rebellion, and commanding the traitors to lay 
down their arms and return to their homes. It announced, 
also, that proceedings would be instituted against the 
offenders, in a court to be organized in the country by 
Judge Eckels, which would supercede the necessity of 
appointing a military commission for that purpose. This 
document was sent to Salt Lake Gity by a Mormon pris- 
oner who was released for the purpose. The Governor 
sent also, by the same messenger, a letter to Brigham 
Young, in which there were expressions that indicated 
a disposition to temporize. 

"The whole camp, at this time, was a scene of confu- 
sion and bustle. Some of the stragglers around the tents 
were Indians belonging to a band of Pah-Utahs, among 
whom Dr. Hurt, already mentioned as the only Federal 
officer who did not abandon the Territory in the Spring 
of 1857, had established a farm upon the banks of the 
Spanish Fork, which rises among the snows of Mount 
Nebo, and flows into Lake Utah from the East. Shortly 
after the issue of Brigham Young's proclamation of Sep- 
tember 15th, the Mormons resolved to take the Doctor 
prisoner. No official was ever more obnoxious to the 
Church than he, for by his authority over the tribes he 
had been able to counteract in great measure the influence 
by which Young had endeavored to alienate both Snakes 
and Utahs from the control of the United States. On 
the 27th of September, two bands of mounted men moved 



ARMY 95 

towards the farm from the neighboring towns of 
Springville and Payson. Warned by the faithful Indians 
of his danger, the Doctor fled to the mountains, and 
twenty Pah-Utahs and Uinta-Utahs escorted him to the 
South Pass, where he joined Colonel Johnston on the 
23rd of October. It was an act of devotion which has 
rarely been excelled in Indian history. The sufferings 
of his naked escort on the journey were severe. They 
crossed the Green River Mountains, breaking the crust 
of the snow and leading their animals, being reduced at 
the time to tallow and roots for their own sustenance. 
On the advance of the army towards Fort Bridger, they 
accompanied its march. 

"Another class of stragglers, and one most dangerous 
to the peace of the camp, was composed of the thousand 
teamsters, who were discharged from employment on the 
supply trains. Many of these men belonged to the scum 
of the great Western cities, — a class more dangerous, 
because more intelligent and reckless, than the same class 
of population in New York. Others had sought to reach 
California, not anticipating a state of hostilities which 
would bar their way. Now, thrown out of employment, 
with slender means, a great number became desperate. 
Hundreds attempted to return to the States on foot, some 
of whom died on the way, — but the majority hung around 
the camp. To some of these the Quartermaster was able 
to furnish work, but he was obviously incapable of afford- 
ing assistance to all. Thefts and assaults became fre- 
quent, and promised to multiply as the season advanced. 
To remedy this trouble. Colonel Johnston assumed the 
responsibility of organizing a volunteer battalion. The 
term of service for which the men enlisted was nine 
months. For their pay they were to depend on the action 
of Congress. The four companies which the battalion 



96 OUR UNITED STATES 

comprised selected for their commander an officer from 
the regular army, Captain Bee, of the Tenth Infantry. 

"The organization of a District Court by Judge Eckels, 
helped quite essentially to enforce order. Its convicts 
were received by Colonel Johnston and committed to 
imprisonment in the guard tents of the army. The grand 
jury returned bills of indictment against Brigham Young 
and sixty of his principal associates. 

"Two messengers came to camp from Salt Lake City 
at the beginning of December, escorted by a party of 
Mormon militia, and bringing four pack-mules loaded 
with salt (the army had been destitute of this necessary 
article for some time), which a letter from Young o'6fered 
as a present, with assurances that it was not poisoned. 

"The Colonel returned no other answer to this epistle 
than to dismiss its bearers with their salt, informing them 
that he could accept no favors from traitors and rebels, 
and that any communication which they might in future 
hold with the army must be under a flag of truce, although 
as to the manner in which they might communicate with 
the Governor it was not within his province to prescribe. 
A week or two later, a thousand pounds of salt were 
forced through to the camp from Fort Laramie, thirty 
out of the forty-six mules on which it was packed per- 
ishing on the way. 

"Thus the long and dreary Winter commenced in the 
camp of the army of Utah. It mattered not that the 
rations were abridged, that communications with the 
States were interrupted, and that every species of duty 
at such a season, in such a region, was uncommonly 
severe. Confidence and even gayety were restored to 
the camp, by the consciousness that it was commanded 
by an officer whose intelligence was adequate to the diffi- 
culties of his position. Every additional hardship was 



ARMY 97 

cheerfully endured. As the animals failed, all the wood 
used in camp was obliged to be drawn a distance of from 
three to six miles by hand, but there were few gayer 
spectacles than the long strings of soldiers hurrying 
wagons over the crunching snow. They built great 
pavilions, decorated them with colors and stacks of 
arms, and danced as merrily on Christmas and New 
Year's Eves to the music of the regimental bands, as if 
they had been in cozy cantonments, instead of in a camp 
of fluttering canvas, more than seven thousand feet above 
the level of the sea. In the pavilion of the Fifth Infan- 
try, there drooped over the company the flags which 
that regiment had carried, ten years before, up the sunny 
slopes of Chapultepec, and which were torn in a hundred 
places by the storm of bullets at Molinos del Rey. 

"Meanwhile, how hearts were beating in the States 
with anxious apprehension for the safety of kindred and 
friends, those who felt that anxiety, and not those who 
were the objects of it best know. 

"Perhaps the disposition of the camp would have been 
more in harmony with the scenery and the season, if 
the army had dreamed that the administration which had 
launched it so recklessly into circumstances of such pri- 
vation and danger, was about to turn its labors and suf- 
ferings into a farce, and to claim the approval of the 
country for an act of mistaken clemency, which was in 
reality a grave political error. 

"In the meanwhile Congress had assembled. The agi- 
tation on the subject of Slavery, far from being sup- 
pressed, or even overshadowed, burned more fiercely than 
ever. The transient gleam of importance which had 
attached to the Mormon War was almost extinguished. 
The people of the States no longer felt a much more 
vital interest in news from that remote region than in 



98 OUR UNITED STATES 

tidings from the rebellion in India or of the wars in 
China. Their attention, sympathy, and curiosity were 
all fastened upon the action of Congress with respect 
to Kansas — for therein, it was believed, were contained 
the germs of the political combinations for the Presiden- 
tial election of 1860. The same listlessness with regard 
to affairs in Utah pervaded the Cabinet. All its prestige 
was staked on the result of the impending struggle in 
the House of Representatives over the Lecompton Con- 
stitution, and its energies were abstracted from every 
other subject, to be concentrated upon that alone. 

"Indifferent and inactive as this review shows Con- 
gress and the President to have been concerning Utah, 
a similar apathy was impossible in the War Department. 
Not only the welfare, but the lives even, of the troops 
at Fort Bridger, depended on its action. Transactions 
of such magnitude had not been incumbent on its bureau 
since the Mexican War. The chief anxiety of General 
Johnston was for the transmissions of supplies from the 
East as early as possible in the Spring. The contractors 
for their transportation during the year 1857 had win- 
tered several trains at Fort Laramie, together with oxen 
and teamsters. The General entertained a fear that so 
great a proportion of their stock might perish during 
the Winter as to cripple their advance until fresh animals 
could be obtained from the States. Combined with this 
fear was an apprehension for the safety of Captain 
Marcy. A prisoner, whom the Mormons had captured in 
October on Ham's Fork, escaped from Salt Lake City at 
the close of December, and brought news to Camp Scott 
that they intended to fit out an expedition to intercept 
the command and stampede the herds with which that 
officer would move from New Mexico. The despatches 
in which these anxieties were communicated to General 



ARMY 99 

Scott, together with suggestions for their reHef, were in- 
trusted in midwinter to a small party for conveyance 
to the States. The journey taught them what must have 
been the sufferings of the expedition which Captain 
Marcy led to Taos. Reduced at one time to buffalo tal- 
low and coffee for sustenance, there was not a day during 
the transit across the mountains when any stronger bar- 
rier than the lives of a few half -starved mules inter- 
posed between them and death by famine. All along 
the route lay memorials of the march of the army, and 
especially of Colonel Cooke's battalion, — a trail of skele- 
tons a thousand miles in length, gnawed bare by the 
wolves and bleaching in the snow, visible at every undula- 
tion in the drifts. But before the arrival of these des- 
patches at New York, the arrangements of the War 
Department to forward supplies to Utah had been com- 
pleted. The representations of the contractors' agents 
with regard to the condition of the cattle at Fort Laramie 
were received without question, and Brevet Lieutenant 
Colonel Hoffman, of the Sixth Infantry, was despatched 
to that post to superintend the advance of the trains. 
Additional contracts of an unprecedented character, were 
entered into for furnishing and transporting all the sup- 
plies which would be needed during the year 1858, both 
for the troops already in the Territory and for the rein- 
forcements which were ordered to concentrate at Fort 
Leavenworth and march to Utah as soon as the roads 
should be passable. 

"These reinforcements were about three thousand 
strong, comprising the First Cavalry, the Sixth and Sev- 
enth Infantry, and two artillery-batteries. The trains 
necessary for so large a force, in addition to that at Fort 
Bridger, it was estimated would comprise at least forty- 
five hundred wagons, requiring more than fifty thousand 



100 OUR UNITED STATES 

oxen, four thousand mules, and five thousand teamsters, 
wagon masters and other employes. To the shame of 
the Administration, these gigantic contracts, involving 
an amount of more than six million dollars, were dis- 
tributed with a view to influence votes in the House of 
Representatives upon the Lecompton Bill. Some of the 
lesser ones, such as those for furnishing mules, dragoon- 
horses, and forage, were granted arbitrarily to relatives 
or friends of members who were wavering upon that 
question. The principal contract, that for the transpor- 
tation of all supplies, involving, for the year 1858, the 
amount of four millions and a half, was granted, with- 
out advertisement or subdivision, to a firm in Western 
Missouri, whose members had distinguished themselves 
in the effort to make Kansas a slave state, and now con- 
tributed liberally to defray the election expenses of the 
Democratic party. 

"At Camp Scott the Winter dragged along wearily. 
Between November and March only two mails arrived 
there, and the great monetary crisis in the United States 
was unknown till months after it had subsided. The 
Mormons were constantly in possession of later intelli- 
gence from the States than the army, for, by a strange 
inconsistency, their mails to and from California, were 
not interfered with. 

"A brigade-guard was mounted daily at Camp, larger 
than that of the whole American army on the eve of the 
battles before Mexico, and scouting parties were con- 
tinually despatched to scour the country in a circuit of 
thirty miles around Fort Bridger; for there was con- 
stant apprehension of an attempt by the Mormons to 
stampede the herds on Henry's Fork, if not to attack 
the regiment which guarded them. No tidings arrived 
from Captain Marcy, and a most painful apprehension 



ARMY 101 

prevailed as to his fate. At the close of January, Dr. 
Hurt, the Indian Agent, after consultation with General 
Johnston, started from the camp, accompanied only by 
four Pah-Utahs, and crossed the Uinta Mountains, 
through snow drifted twenty feet deep, to the villages 
of the tribe of Uinta-Utahs, on the river of the same 
name. It was his intention, in case of need, to employ 
these Indians to warn Captain Marcy of danger and 
afford him relief. It proved to be unnecessary to do 
so, and Dr. Hurt returned in April; but the hardships 
he endured in the undertaking resulted in an illness 
which threatened his life for weeks. On the 13th of 
March, an express had come in from New Mexico, 
bringing news of the safe arrival of Captain Marcy at 
Taos on the 22nd of January. The sufferings of his 
whole party from cold and hunger had been severe. 
Their provisions failed them, and they had recourse to 
mule-meat. Many of the men were badly frost bitten, 
but only one perished on the way. 

"Just at this time, Mr. Thomas L. Kane, of Pennsyl- 
vania, — son of the late Judge of the United States Dis- 
trict Court for that State, and brother of the late Dr. 
Kane, the Arctic explorer, — solicited the Administration 
for employment as a mediator between the Mormons and 
the Federal Government. Mr. Kane was one of the few 
persons of education and social standing who were well 
acquainted with Mormon history. 

"Its experience in Kansas had familiarized the Cabinet 
with the use of secret agents; but, nevertheless, the 
proposition of Mr. Kane was coldly received. After a 
brief correspondence, he started for California in no 
capacity a representative of the government, if he him- 
self is' to be believed, but bearing letters from Mr. 
Buchanan indorsing his character as a gentleman, and 



102 OUR UNITED STATES 

exhorting Federal officials to render him such courtesies 
as were within their power. Having arrived at San 
Francisco, he journeyed southward to the lately aban- 
doned Mormon settlement of San Bernardino, near Los 
Angeles, travelling under the assumed name of Osborne, 
and proclaiming his business to be the collection of speci- 
mens for an entomological society in Philadelphia." 

Mr. Kane reached Salt Lake City safely in February, 
1858, and immediately held council with the Presidency 
and the Twelve. TuUidge in his Life of Brigham Young 
reports that Mr. Kane opened his address by saying: 

"I come as ambassador from the Chief Executive of 
our nation, and am prepared and duly authorized to lay 
before you, most fully and definitely the feelings and 
views of the citizens of our common country and of the 
Executive toward you, relative to the present position of 
this territory, and relative to the army of the United 
States now upon your borders." He added that he de- 
sired to "enlist their sympathies for the poor soldiers 
who are now suffering in the cold and snow of the moun- 
tains !" 

After a prolonged and secret interview alone with 
Brigham Young, Mr. Kane was given shelter in the house 
of an elder. A few days later he set out to visit Camp 
Scott. Mr. Kane's leanings to the Mormon faith were 
well known, his discrepancies in stating the position that 
he held as an authorized intermediary between the Fed- 
eral Government and the Mormons, can only be explained 
by the fact that he was the recipient of secret instructions 
not in accord with those printed and published. Upon 
his arrival at Camp Scott, March 10th, he ignored the 
sentry's challenge and the latter fired upon him, where- 
upon he broke his own weapon over the sentry's head. 
With this informal entrance within army lines he asked to 



ARMY 103 

be conducted into the presence of Governor Cumming. 
Mr. Kane remained at Camp Eckels until April and suc- 
ceeded in winning that gentleman to his point of view, as 
well as establishing a strained condition between the Gov- 
ernor and the Commander of the military forces. Mr. 
Kane's plan was for the Governor to enter Salt Lake 
Valley unattended by his posse comitatus, but in the 
company of a Mormon escort. 

Governor Cumming announced to General Johnston 
on April 3rd, that he had decided to adopt this method 
of inspiring confidence in Federal authority and two 
days later he left Camp Eckels for Salt Lake City. In 
a report to army headquarters, dated January 20th, Gen- 
eral Johnston's own view of the policy pursued toward 
the Mormons is summed up as follows : 

"Knowing how repugnant.it would be to the policy or 
interest of the government to do any act that would 
force these people into unpleasant relations with the fed- 
eral government, I have, in conformity with the views 
also of the commanding general, on all proper occasions, 
manifested in my intercourse with them a spirit of con- 
ciliation. But I do not believe that such consideration of 
them would be properly appreciated now, or rather would 
be wrongly interpreted; and, in view of the treasonable 
temper and feeling now pervading the leaders and a 
greater portion of the Mormons, I think that neither the 
honor nor the dignity of the government will allow of 
the slightest concession being made to them." 

Governor Cumming entered Salt Lake City on the 12th 
of April; three days later he notified General Johnston 
of his arrival. One of his first acts was to assure the 
people of his protection and upon being informed that 
there were many people desiring to leave the Territory 
but that they were unable to do so, he proposed that they 



104 OUR UNITED STATES 

register with him their names and addresses. Within 
the following week about two hundred persons signified 
their intention of leaving and these were formed into 
trains with such movable property as they possessed and 
despatched towards Fort Bridger. 

"They arrived there in the course of May, — as motley, 
ragged, and destitute a crowd as ever descended from 
the deck of an Irish emigrant ship at New York or Bos- 
ton. The only garments which some possessed were 
made of the canvas of their wagon covers. Many were 
on foot. For provisions, they had nothing except flour 
and some fresh meat. It is a fact creditable to humanity, 
that private soldiers, by the score, shared their own 
abridged rations and scanty stock of clothing with these 
poor wretches, and in less than a day after their arrival 
they were provided with much to make them comfort- 
able. 

"On Sunday, the Governor made a speech to the con- 
gregation, being introduced by Brigham Young. He 
reviewed the relations of the Mormons to the Federal 
government; assumed that General Johnston and the 
army were under his control; pledged his word they 
should not be stationed in immediate contact with the set- 
tlements; and gave assurances, also, that no military 
posse should be employed to arrest a Mormon until 
every other means had been tried and had failed. At 
the close, he invited any of their number to respond. 
Various persons immediately addressed the audience in 
almost frantic speeches, concerning the murder of Joseph 
and Hiram Smith at Carthage, the persecution of the 
saints in Missouri and Illinois, the services rendered by 
the Mormon Battalion to an ungrateful country during 
the Mexican War; the toils and perils of the migration 
to Utah, and the character of the Federal officers who 



ARMY 105 

had been sent to rule the Territory. Personal insults 
were heaped upon the Governor, and a scene of the 
wildest confusion was the result, which was quieted 
with great difficulty by Young himself. 

**A11 this while, a movement of a most extraordinary 
character was being carried on, which had commenced 
before the Governor entered the valley. The people of 
the northern settlements, along the base of the Wah- 
satch Mountains, including Salt Lake City, were desert- 
ing their homes, abandoning houses, crops, and their 
heavier furniture, and migrating southward. Long 
wagon-trains were sweeping through the city every day, 
accompanied by hundreds of families and droves of 
horses and cattle. 

"A fair estimate of the entire Mormon population of 
Utah is about forty-five thousand. Of this number, ten 
thousand is the proportion of the towns north of Salt 
Lake City, and upward of fifteen thousand that of the 
city itself and settlements in its immediate neighbor- 
hood. Considerably more than half the people of the 
Territory, therefore, shared in this emigration. What 
was its object and what its destination are still mys- 
teries ; — at any rate, it was conducted under the direction 
of the Church, and Young and Kimball were among the 
first to lead the way. Commencing late in March, it 
continued until June, and before the beginning of May 
more than thirty-five thousand people were concentrated 
on the western shore of Lake Utah, chiefly in the neigh- 
borhood of Provo, fifty miles south of Salt Lake City. 
Such a scene of squalid misery, such a spectacle of want 
and distress, was never before witnessed in America. 
More than half this multitude could not be accommodated 
in the towns, and lodged in board shanties, wigwams, 
mud-huts, log-cabins, bowers of willow branches cov- 



106 OUR UNITED STATES 

ered with wagon sheets, and even in holes dug into the 
hill-sides. The most common quarters, however, were 
made by removing a wagon-body from its wheels, plac- 
ing it upon the ground, and erecting in front of it a bower 
of cedars. It is needless to dwell on the exasperation 
which animated all who submitted to these sacrifices. 

"On the 6th of April, the President had signed a 
Proclamation, at Washington, rehearsing to the people 
of Utah Territory, at considerable length, their past 
ojffences, and particularly those which immediately pre- 
ceded and followed the outbreak of the rebellion, and 
declaring them traitors ; but *in order to save the effu- 
sion of blood, and to avoid the indiscriminate punishment 
of a whole people for crimes of which it is not probable 
that all are equally guilty,' offering 'a free and full par- 
don to all who will submit themselves to the authority 
of the Federal Government.' This document was in- 
trusted to two Commissioners for conveyance to the Ter- 
ritory; — one of them, Mr. L. W. Powell, lately Gover- 
nor, and at the time Senator-elect, of the State of Ken- 
tucky; the other Major Ben M'CuUock, of Texas, who 
had served with distinction in Mexico. 

"The reinforcements and supply trains for the army 
were at this time concentrated at Fort Leavenworth. 
Major General Persifer F. Smith was assigned to the 
commander-in-chief, and it was intended that the whole 
force, after concentration in Utah, should be divided into 
two brigades, one to be commanded by General Harney, 
the other by General Johnston. Leaving the columns 
preparing to advance over the Plains, the Commissioners 
started from the Fort on the 25th of April. On the same 
day Lieutenant Colonel Hoffman advanced from Fort 
Laramie with several companies of infantry and cavalry, 
escorting the supply trains which were parked there 



ARMY 107 

through the Winter, and on the speedy arrival of which 
at Camp Scott the subsistence of General Johnston's 
command depended unless it should force its way into 
the Valley. On the 1st of May, he had reached- La 
Boute, a tributary of the North Platte, fifty miles from 
the Fort. There he encountered the severest storm that 
had occurred in that region for many years. Snow fell 
breast-deep, and was followed by a pelting rain which 
killed his mules by scores. He was forced to remain 
stationary more than a week, and when he renewed 
the march the trains were clogged by mud a foot 
deep. 

"The Commissioners reached Camp Scott on the 29th 
of May. The President's Proclamation had been 
received the day before. With the exception of a few 
persons who were prepared for such a document by 
reflection on Mr. Kane's mission, everybody was aston- 
ished at its purport. It seemed incredible that lenity 
should have been extended to the Mormon rebels which 
was refused to the Free-State men in Kansas, who were 
once indicted for treason and sedition. There was none 
of the blood-thirsty excitement in the camp which was 
reported in the States to have prevailed there, but there 
was a feeling of infinite chagrin, a consciousness that 
the expedition was only a pawn on Mr. Buchanan's polit- 
ical chess-board ; and reproaches against his folly were 
as frequent as they were vehement." 

Following their instruction the Commissions proceeded 
to Salt Lake City and at once gave extensive circulation 
to the President's Proclamation. Brigham Young being 
now assured that entire forgiveness for past transgres- 
sions was established, and no legal or military action 
would be taken against the Saints, declared in conference 
that he had done nothing for which he desired the Presi- 



108 OUR UNITED STATES 

dent's forgiveness and followed his surrender to condi- 
tions of peace with declarations such as these : 

"I can take a few of the boys here, and, with the help 
of the Lord, can whip the whole of the United States. 
Boys, how do you feel? Are you afraid of the United 
States? (Great demonstration among the brethren.) No. 
No. We are not afraid of man, nor of what he can do. 

"The United States are going to destruction as fast 
as they can go. If you do not believe it, gentlemen, you 
will see it to your sorrow. 

"Now, let me say to you peace commissioners, we are 
willing those troops should come into our country, but 
not to stay in our city. They may pass through it, if 
needs be, but must not quarter less than forty miles 
from us." 

With this declaration the Mormon War was ended. 
General Johnston was instructed by the commissioners 
that the Mormons had agreed to obey the laws of the 
territory and that the military and civil officers would be 
allowed to perform their duties without interference. 

Before leaving camp the commissioners had urged 
General Johnston to advance the army as rapidly as 
possible. On the 8th of June Captain Marcy arrived 
with a herd of nearly fifteen hundred mules and horses, 
and an escort of five companies of infantry and mounted 
rifle men. Within the next two days Colonel Hoffman 
reached Fort Bridger with all his supply trains and the 
next day General Johnston gave orders to break camp 
and march to Salt Lake City. A strong detachment of 
infantry artillery was left to garrison Fort Bridger. 

"On the 13th of June, the long camp was broken up, 
and the army moved forward in three columns on the 
route through the cafions. Although the season was so 
far advanced, snow had fallen at the Fort only three 



ARMY 109 

days before. The streams were swollen and turbulent 
with spring floods, and difficulty was anticipated in cross- 
ing the Bear and Weber Rivers. Material for bridging 
had, therefore, been prepared, and accompanied the first 
column. Southwest of the Fort at the distance of four 
or five miles, a singular butte, the top of which is as 
level as the floor of a ball room, rises to the height of 
eight hundred feet above the valley of Black's Fork, 
and commands a view of the entire broad plateau between 
Wind River and the Uinta and Wasatch Ranges. Lit- 
tle parties of horsemen could be seen spurring up the 
gullies on its almost precipitous sides, to witness from 
its summit the departure of the army. The scene was 
in the highest degree picturesque. Almost at their feet 
lay the camp, the few tents which remained un-struck 
glittering like bright dots on the wing of an insect, the 
white- washed wall of the Fort reflecting the sunshine, 
while stacks of turf chimneys, lodge-poles, and rubbish 
marked the spots where the encampment had been aban- 
doned. The whole valley was in commotion. Along the 
strips of road were winding clumsy baggage-trains; the 
regiment of dragoons was trailing in advance ; the gleam 
of the musket barrels of the infantry was visible on all 
sides ; and every puff of the breeze that blew over the 
bluff was freighted with the rumble of artillery-carriages 
and caisons. Here and there were groups of half-naked 
Indians galloping to and fro, with fluttering blankets, 
gazing at the show with the curiosity and delight of 
children. 

"On the 14th an express from the commissioners ar- 
rived at the camp on Bear River, announcing that no 
resistance would be made by the Mormons, who pledged 
themselves to submit to Federal authority. 

"The troops did not emerge from Emigration Canon 



110 OUR UNITED STATES 

into the Salt Lake Valley until the morning of the 29th. 
In the meanwhile, thirty or forty civilians had reached 
the city from the camp, and were quartered, like the 
commissioners, in their own vehicles. The Mormons 
favored no one, except the Governor and his intimate 
associates, with any species of accommodation. Their 
demeanor was in every respect like a conquered people 
toward foreign invaders. During the week preceding the 
26th, two or three hundred of those on Lake Utah 
received permission to go up to the city, and they alone, 
of the whole Mormon community, witnessed the ingress 
of the army. 

*Tt was one of the most extraordinary scenes that 
have occurred in American history. All day long, from 
dawn till after sunset, the troops and trains poured 
through the city, the utter silence of the streets being 
broken only by the music of the military bands, the 
monotonous tramp of the regiments, and the rattle of 
the baggage wagons. Early in the morning, the Mormon 
guard had forced all their fellow religionists into the 
houses, and ordered them not to make their appearance 
during the day. The numerous flags, which had been 
flying from staffs on the public buildings during the pre- 
vious week, were all struck. The only visible groups of 
spectators were on the corners near Brigham Young's 
residence, and consisted almost entirely of Gentile civil- 
ians. The stillness was so profound, that, during the 
intervals between the passage of the columns, the monot- 
onous gurgle of the city creek struck on every ear. The 
Commissioners rode with the General's staff. The troops 
crossed the Jordan and encamped two miles from the city 
on a dusty meadow by the river bank." 

Cedar Valley was later selected by General Johnston 
as one of the three posts he was ordered to establish 



AEMY 111 

and on July 6th his camp was pitched there to which was 
given the name of Camp Floyed. Within a few day? 
the first of the thousands of citizens who had deserted 
their homes began to return and before long the city of 
the dead once more showed its accustomed life and 
activity. 

"During the march of the army," writes Bancroft, 
*'not a house was disturbed, not a citizen was harmed or 
molested, and during its sojourn of nearly two years in 
the territory, instances were rare indeed of gross mis- 
conduct on the part of the soldiery. The Mormons, who 
had before been eager to fight the troops, were now 
thankful for their arrival. Many of the former were 
very poor ; they had a few cattle, and a few implements 
of husbandry, but little else of this world's goods save 
their farms and farm dwellings. They were ill clad and 
fed, their diet consisting chiefly of preparations of corn, 
flour, and milk, with beet molasses, and the fruits and 
vegetables of their gardens. Now they had an oppor- 
tunity to exchange the products of their fields and dairies 
for clothing, for such luxuries as tea, coffee, sugar, 
tobacco and for money — an article still scarce among 
them." 



CHAPTER IX 

Exploration of the Colorado River 

The Colorado Exploring expedition under Lieutenant 
J. C. Ives was organized by the War Department in 
1857, the main object of the work being to ascertain 
the navigability of the Colorado River as a practical 
avenue of transportation for supplies to various military 
posts in New Mexico and Utah. Up to this time little 
had been known concerning this great river, whose water- 
shed covered an area of more than 300,000 square miles. 
The Green and Grand Rivers, flowing through Utah in 
a southerly direction, were supposed to unite at the 
southern boundary of the territory and form the Col- 
orado, but the point of junction had never been ascer- 
tained. Many hundreds of miles below this point had 
never been explored by white men, although certain 
portions of the river had been visited by Spanish mis- 
sionaries and soldiers less than fifty years after the 
landing of Columbus, who followed its course for a 
considerable distance from its mouth, even attaining one 
of the most distant and inaccessible points in its upper 
waters. More knowledge of the river was gained at this 
early period than during the three subsequent centuries. 
With the exception of occasional exploring expeditions 
under the direction of the Spanish authority and the visi- 
tations of Catholic priests the river was scarcely 
approached except by an occasional trapper or parties 

112 



ARMY 113 

of gold seekers enroute for California. These emigrants 
suffered molestation at the hands of the Yuma Indians 
and in 1850 a detachment of United States troops were 
sent to the mouth of the Gila River to keep order and 
later the outpost of Fort Yuma was regularly established. 

"The difficulty of furnishing supplies to the garrisons 
across the desert was such that, in the Winter of 1850 and 
1851, General Smith, commanding the Pacific division, 
sent a schooner from San Francisco to the head of the 
Gulf of California, and directed Lieutenant Derby, topo- 
graphical engineer, to make a reconnaissance, with a 
view of establishing a route of supply to Fort Yuma, via 
the Gulf and the Colorado. The result of the reconnais- 
sance was successful and the route was at once put in 
operation. The freight, carried in sailing vessels to the 
mouth of the river, was transported to the fort — the dis- 
tance to which, by the river, is one hundred and fifty 
miles — at first in lighters and afterwards in steamboats.** 

In 1851, Captain ^JLitgreaves, topographical engineer, 
with a party of fifty individuals, made an exploration 
from Zuni westward. He struck the Colorado at a point 
about 160 miles above Fort Yuma, and followed the east 
side of the river to the fort, keeping as near to the bank 
as possible. He encountered the Mojaves, and found 
their appearance and customs generally to agree with the 
descriptions of the early explorers. The descent was 
accompanied with hardship and danger. Both the Mo- 
javes and Yumas were hostile, and the difficulty of trav- 
elling near the river was extreme, owing to the chains 
of rugged and precipitous mountains that crossed the 
valley. The summer heats had parched and withered 
the face of the country ; the stream was low, and what 
was seen of it did not create a favorable opinion regard- 
ing its navigability. 



114 OUR UNITED STATES 

In the Spring of 1854, Lieutenant Whipple, topograph- 
ical engineer, in command of an expedition for the ex- 
ploration and survey of a railroad route near the 35th 
parallel, reached the Colorado, at the mouth of Bill 
Williams' Fork, and ascended the river about fifty miles, 
leaving it at a point not far below where Captain Lit- 
greaves had first touched it. The expedition was com- 
posed of nearly a hundred persons, including the escort. 
The Mojaves were friendly, furnishing provisions to the 
party, whose supply was nearly exhausted, and sending 
guides to conduct them by the best route across the desert 
westward. The river was probably higher than when 
seen by Captain Litgreaves and it was the opinion of 
Lieutenant Whipple that it would be navigable for steam- 
ers of light draught. The course of the Colorado north- 
ward could be followed with the eye for only a short 
distance, on account of mountain spurs that crossed the 
valley and intercepted the view. A high distant range, 
through which the river apparently broke, was supposed' 
to be at the mouth of the "Big Canon," which the Span- 
iards in 1540, had visited at a place far above. 

The marvellous story of Cardinas, that formed for so 
long a time the only record concerning this rather myth- 
ical locality, was rather magnified than detracted from 
by the accounts of one or two trappers, who professed 
to have seen the Canon, and propagated among their 
prairie companions incredible accounts of the stupendous 
character of the formation, so that it became a matter 
of interest to have this region explored, and to lay down 
the positions of the Colorado and its tributaries along the 
unknown belt of the country north of the 35th parallel. 

"To ascertain how far the river was navigable for 
steamboats being the point of primary importance," writes 
Lieutenant Ives, "it was necessary first to make provision 



ARMY 115 

for this portion of the work. The company employed 
in carrying freight from the head of the Gulf to Fort 
Yuma was unable to spare a boat for the use of the expe- 
dition, excepting for a compensation beyond the limits 
of the appropriation. A boat of suitable construction, 
had, therefore, to be built on the Atlantic coast and 
transported to San Francisco, and thence to the mouth 
of the river. In order that the survey should be made 
at the worst and lowest stage of the water, I had been 
directed to commence operations at the mouth of the 
Colorado on the 1st of December. This left little time 
for preparation, considering that it was necessary to 
build a steamer and carry the parts to so great a distance. 
In the latter part of June I ordered of Reany, Neafie & 
Co., of Philadelphia, an iron steamer, fifty feet long, to 
be built in sections, and the parts to be so arranged that 
they could be transported by railroad, as the shortness 
of time required that it should be sent to California, via 
the Isthmus of Panama. About the middle of August 
the boat was finished, tried upon the Delaware, and found 
satisfactory, subject to a few alterations only. It was 
then taken apart, sent to New York, and. shipped on 
board of the California steamer which sailed on the 20th 
of August for Aspinwall. 

"The members of the expedition were assembled in 
San Francisco in the middle of October. The interest, 
which I would here gratefully acknowledge, displayed by 
General Clarke, commanding the department of the Pa- 
cific, and by officers of his staff, in furthering the neces- 
sary preparations, enabled these to be soon completed. 
The party was divided into three detachments. One of 
them, in charge of Dr. Newberry, started on the 28th 
of October in the coast steamer at San Diego, at which 
place some mules were to be procured and taken across 



116 OUR UNITED STATES 

the desert to Fort Yuma. A second detachment, in 
charge of Mr. Taylor, went by the same steamer to San 
Pedro, from whence they were to repair to Fort Tejon, 
collect the remainder of the animals, and cross also to 
Fort Yuma. Mr. Carroll and myself, with eight men, 
were to go by sea to the head of the Gulf of California, 
there put the steamboat together, ascend the Colorado 
to Fort Yuma, and join the rest of the party. Lieuten- 
ant Tipton, 3rd artillery, and twenty-five men, to be taken 
from the companies at Fort Yuma, were detailed by Gen- 
eral Clarke as an escort to the expedition. It was on 
the 1st day of November, 1857, that I sailed from San 
Francisco, for the mouth of the Colorado, in the Mon- 
terey, a schooner of 120 tons burden, employed to carry 
supplies to the head of the Gulf, for transmission to the 
garrison at Fort Yuma." 

On the 28th of the same month the near approach to 
the Colorado River was announced and entering its 
mouth, a search was made for a suitable landing place. 
Before this was finally chosen, a peculiar phenomenon 
was witnessed, which occurs in but a few places in the 
world. 

"About nine o'clock, while the tide was still running 
out rapidly, we heard, from the direction of the Gulf, a 
deep, booming sound, like the noise of a distant water- 
fall. Every moment it became louder and nearer, and 
in half an hour a great wave, several feet in height, could 
be distinctly seen flashing and sparkling in the moon- 
light, extending from one bank to the other, and advanc- 
ing swiftly upon us. While it was only a few hundred 
yards distant, the ebb tide continued to flow by at a rate 
of three miles an hour. A point of land and an exposed 
bar close under our lee broke the wave into several long 
swells, and as these met the ebb, the broad sheet around 



ARMY 117 

us boiled up and foamed like the surface of a caldron, 
and then, with scarcely a moment of slack water, the 
whole went whirling by in the opposite direction. In a 
few moments the low rollers had passed the island and 
united again in a single bank of water, which swept up 
the narrowing channel with the thunder of a cataract. At 
a turn not far distant it disappeared from view, but for 
a long time, in the stillness of the night, the roaring of 
the huge mass could be heard reverberating among the 
windings of the river, till at last it became faint and lost 
in the distance. This singular phenomenon is called a 
'bore,' it occurs here only at the highest spring tides, and 
is due to the formation of the banks, the rapid rise of the 
water and the swiftness of the current. In the course of 
four or five hours the river falls about thirty feet, and 
even at the last moment of the ebb runs with considerable 
velocity. As the torrent suddenly encounters the flood 
crowding up the narrowing channel, it is banked up and 
rebounds in a single immense wave that ascends for many 
miles. In very shallow places, where the rush is suddenly 
checked, it sometimes rises to a height of ten or twelve 
feet. When broken by an island it soon reunites. A 
vessel at anchor, exposed to its full influence, would incur 
a great risk of being dragged from her moorings and 
swept along till brought up by bank or shoal. 

*To-day (Dec. 2nd) Mr. Booker, one of my assistants, 
came down in a skiff from Fort Yuma, bringing with him 
our letters and papers. He had left the fort on the 29th 
and had expected to join us on the ebb of last night, but 
was caught by the flood before he could reach our posi- 
tion and came near being swamped by the 'bore,' having 
been barely able to run his boat ashore in time to escape. 
He reports the safe arrival at Fort Yuma of the party 
from San Diego." 



118 OUR UNITED STATES 

By December 21st the final departure of the party 
from Robinson's landing at the mouth of the Colorado, 
where the Explorer had been put together with con- 
siderable difficulty, was heralded with joy and the first 
camp was made at Cocopa village. 

The different detachments of the party united at Fort 
Yuma. This fort is situated on the west side of the river, 
"on the top of a gravelly spur that extends with a steep 
bluff to the edge of the stream. A corresponding preci- 
pice upon the opposite side forms, with the other, a gate 
through which the united waters of the Gila and the 
Colorado flow in a comparatively narrow bed. The 
mouth of the Gila is just above. The southern emigrant 
route to California crosses the river at this place. For 
ten or fifteen miles north and south the valley is inhabited 
by Yuma Indians, a few years ago the most powerful and 
warlike tribe. Opposite the fort an anticipated town has 
been located and denominated Colorado City. At pres- 
ent there are but a few straggling buildings, the princi- 
pal of which are a store, blacksmith's shop, and tavern. 

"Fort Yuma is not a place to inspire one with regret at 
leaving. The barrenness of the surrounding region, the 
intense heat of its Summer climate, and its loneliness and 
isolation have caused it to be regarded as the Botany Bay 
of military stations. Its establishment, however, has 
brought into entire subjection the Yuma Indians, who 
had been a scourge to their neighbors and to California 
emigrants. They are a fierce and cruel tribe but a much 
finer race, physically than the Cocopas. At present they 
are in a state of much excitement. There is a settlement 
of Mormons not far from the Colorado, a few hundred 
miles above, and it is rumored that some of that people 
have been among the upper tribes of Indians, telling them 
of their difficulties with the other whites and endeavour- 



ARMY 119 

ing to secure their alliance. There is an impression 
among the Indians that the Mormons contemplate, before 
long, descending the Colorado, which corresponds with a 
rumor brought from the east by the latest mail of a pro- 
jected movement into Sonora. The commanding officer 
of the fort, Lieutenant Winder, a few days ago, sent 
Lieutenant White, with a detachment of men, up the 
river, with Captain Johnston, to make a reconnaissance 
and endeavor to ascertain the truth of these reports. 

**The fact that my expedition, just at this time, is pre- 
paring to ascend the Colorado, has much exercised the 
Indians above, who are jealous of any encroachment into 
their territory." 

From Fort Yuma, the party made their way to Mojave 
Canon, camps being made at Explorer's Pass, Canebrake 
Canon, Great Colorado valley, Beaver Island and the 
mouth of Bill Williams' Fork, which was reached 
February 1st. "The whole appearance of the country," 
writes Lieutenant Ives, "indicated that we had reached 
the Chemehuevis valley. . . . Having accompanied in 
1853, the expedition of Lieutenant Whipple to explore 
for a railroad route along the 35th parallel, and having, 
with that party, descended Bill Williams' Fork to its con- 
fluence with the Colorado, I was confident of the locality. 
The mouth of the stream was at that time, which hap- 
pened to be in the present month, February, about thirty 
feet wide, and several feet deep. I now looked in vain 
for the creek. The outline of the bank, though low, ap- 
peared unbroken, and for a while I was quite confounded. 
My companions were of opinion that I had made a great 
topographical blunder, but I asked Captain Robinson to 
head for the left shore, — as we approached the bank I 
perceived, while closely scanning its outline, a small dent, 
and after landing repaired to the spot, and found a very 



120 OUR UNITED STATES 

narrow gulley, through which a feeble stream was trick- 
Hng, and this was all that was left of Bill Williams' Fork. 
The former mouth is now overgrown with thickets and 
willow. . . . The party of Lieutenant Whipple contained 
one hundred men, two hundred mules, and four wagons, 
but the trail is entirely obliterated. Not a trace, even of 
the wagons, remain. 

"We have now been absent from Fort Yuma for four 
weeks and have but two weeks' rations left. Should the 
pack train meet with detention we should be on short al- 
lowance, and unlike a land party, have no mules to fall 
back upon. I have been anxious for some time to in- 
crease the stock of provisions by trading with the In- 
dians, and took advantage of the chief's presence to open 
negotiation upon the subject. He promised before he 
left that evening that his people should bring some beans 
and corn to trade for manta and beads. Last evening 
about two dozen brought baskets and earthern bowls of 
corn and beans. I saw that they had come prepared 
for a long haggling, and I made them place their bur- 
dens in a row on some boards that were laid out for 
the purpose ; asking each in turn whether he preferred 
beads or manta. I placed what I thought a fair amount 
of the desired article opposite to the proper heap of pro- 
visions. The whole tribe had crowded around to look 
on, and their amusement during this performance was 
extreme. Every sharp face expanded into a grin as I 
weighed the different piles in succession in my hand, and 
gravely estimated their contents, and when the appor- 
tionment being over, I directed two of my men to bag 
the corn and beans, and coolly walked away, the delight 
of the bystanders, at the summary method of complet- 
ing the bargain, reached the climax and they fairly 
screamed with laughter. A few of the traders seemed 



ARMY 121 

not quite to comprehend why they should have had so 
Httle to say in the matter, but having been really well 
recompensed, according to their ideas of things, the 
tariff of prices was established, and this morning when 
fresh supplies were brought, they received the same rate 
of payment without question. Mr. MoUhausen has en- 
listed the services of the children to procure zoological 
specimens, and has obtained, at the cost of a few strings 
of beads, several varieties of pouched mice and lizards. 
They think he eats them, and are delighted that his eccen- 
tric appetite can be gratified with so much ease and profit 
to themselves." 

Lieutenant Ives continued the journey through the 
Mojave Valley, at this season, early February, presenting 
an appearance so lovely in its Spring verdure as to arouse 
expressions of admiration and delight. Now and again 
the Mojave Indians were encountered and the friendly 
intercourse of trade established, through which the party 
were able to study the native characteristics and estab- 
lish a feeling of confidence in behalf of the whites. One 
of these parleys Lieutenant Ives describes as follows : 

"A few miles from camp we descried an immense 
throng of Indians standing upon an open meadow, and 
Captain informed me that the chief Jose was awaiting, 
with his warriors, our approach. As there was good 
wooding the place nearby, I determined to stop and have 
an interview, and, landing, sent him word that I was 
ready to see him. In a few moments he marched up 
with dignity, his tribe following in single file, the leader 
bearing a dish of cooked beans. A kind of crier walked 
a dozen paces in front to disperse from around the spot 
where I was standing the women, children and dogs. 
Jose is advanced in years, and has rather a noble counten- 
ance, which, in honor to the occasion, was painted per- 



122 OUR UNITED STATES 

fectly black, excepting a red stripe from the top of his 
forehead, down the bridge of his nose, to his chin. There 
was, in the first place, a general smoke at my expense, 
followed by a long conference. I tried to make him 
comprehend that we were on a peaceful mission, that I 
had a great esteem for him personally; and that I had 
certain things to ask him, viz. : that he should have pro- 
visions brought in to be traded for; should never permit 
any of his tribe to come to our camp after sunset ; should 
send guides to conduct Lieutenant Tipton and train up 
the river by the best route ; and should at once detail 
an Indian to carry a package to Fort Yuma and bring a 
return package to us. In return, his people should be 
well paid for their provisions and services, and he him- 
self for his trouble. 

"My address, which differed from any speech ever yet 
made to a band of Indians since the formation of our 
government — inasmuch as it contained nothing about the 
'Great Father at Washington' — was at last duly com- 
prehended by Jose and by the crowd that were seated 
around. It was difficult to satisfy them about the expedi- 
tion; they could not understand why I should come up 
the river with a steamboat and go directly back again, 
nor why it was necessary to keep up a communication 
with Fort Yuma. I endeavored to explain these suspi- 
cious circumstances, and apparently succeeded, for Jose 
said that my wishes should be gratified, and that he would 
visit camp at evening, and meanwhile make the necessary 
arrangements to provide a messenger. I invited him to 
go with me on the steamboat; but he declined, and his 
friends appeared to think that he had done a prudent 
thing. 

"All this occupied some time, and involved a great 
deal of gesticulation and intricate pantomime, which, even 



ARMY 123 

with interpreters, I find it convenient to have recourse to. 
Oral communication, under existing circumstances, is a 
compHcated process. I have to dehver my message to 
Mr. Bielawski, who puts it into indifferent Spanish for 
the benefit of Mariano, whose knowledge of that language 
is slight; when Mariano has caught the idea he imparts 
it in the Yuma tongue, with which he is not altogether 
conversant, to Captain, who, in turn, puts it into the 
Mojave vernacular. What changes my remarks have 
undergone during these different stages I shall never 
know, but I observe that they are sometimes received by 
the Mojaves with an astonishment and bewilderment that 
the original sense does not at all warrant." 

By March 8th the Explorer had safely navigated the 
Colorado River over shoals, rapids and through narrow 
gorges, to the mouth of the Black Cafion. Here 
rumors were received to the effect that unfriendly 
Paiutes had threatened the destruction of the party. 
The arrival of the pack train now became a subject of 
constant anxiety as the supplies of the party were exceed- 
ingly low and the diet of corn and beans purchased from 
the Indians, upon which the party had subsisted for the 
past two or three weeks, without salt or hot coffee to 
make it palatable, was beginning to tell severely upon the 
general health. 

The exploration of the Black Cafion was undertaken 
by Lieutenant Ives, the Captain, and mate in a small 
skiff; a bucketful of corn and beans, three pairs of 
blankets, a compass, and a sextant and chronometer con- 
stituted the equipment. The danger and difficulty of 
ascending the rapid called for the constant labor and cool 
judgment of the party. 

"We had proceeded a quarter of a mile, and had just 
rounded the first bend, when one of the sculls snapped, 



124 OUR UNITED STATES 

reducing by half our motive power. In a few minutes, 
having passed what may be called the outworks of the 
range, we fairly entered its gigantic precincts, the walls 
were perpendicular, and more than double the height of 
the Mojave Mountains, rising in many places, sheer from 
the water, for over a thousand feet. The naked rocks 
presented, in lieu of the brilliant tints that had illuminated 
the sides of the lower passes, a uniform sombre hue, that 
added much to the solemn and impressive sublimity of 
the place. The river was narrow and devious, and each 
turn disclosed new combinations of colossal and fantastic 
forms, dimly seen in the dizzy heights overhead, or 
through the sunless depths of the vista beyond. Several 
rapids followed, at short distances, all of which would 
be troublesome to pass at the present depth of water. 
The constant getting out of the boat, and the labor of 
dragging it through these difficult places, made our prog- 
ress for some miles exceedingly tedious and fatiguing. 
As sunset was approaching, we came to a nook in the 
side of the canon, four miles above the Roaring Rapid, 
where a patch of gravel and a few pieces of driftwood, 
lodged upon rocks, offered a tolerable camping place, and 
we hauled the skiff upon the shingle, and stopped for the 
night. There was no need of keeping a watch, with two 
grim lines of sentinels a thousand feet high guarding our 
camp. Even though we could have been seen from the 
verge of the cliff above, our position was totally inac- 
cessible. 

"Darkness supervened with surprising suddenness. 
Pall after pall of shade fell, as it were, in clouds, upon the 
deep recesses about us. The line of light, through the 
opening above, at last became blurred and indistinct, and, 
save the dull red glare of the camp fire, all was en- 
veloped in a murky gloom. Soon the narrow belt again 



ARMY 125 

brightened, as the rays of the moon reached the sum- 
mits of the mountains. Gazing far upward upon the 
edges of the overhanging walls, we witnessed the gradual 
illumination. A few isolated turrets and pinnacles first 
appeared in strong relief upon the blue band of the 
heavens. As the silvery light descended, and fell upon 
the opposite crest of the abyss, strange and uncouth 
shapes seemed to start out, all sparkling and blinking in 
the light, and to be peering over at us as we lay watching 
them from the bottom of the profound chasm. 

'This morning, as soon as light permitted, we were 
again upon the way. The caiion continued increasing in 
size and magnificence. Wherever the river makes a turn 
the entire panorama changes, and one startling novelty 
after another appears and disappears with bewildering 
rapidity. Stately facades, august cathedrals, amphithe- 
atres, rotundas, castellated walls, and rows of time-stained 
ruins, surmounted by every form of tower, minaret, dome, 
and spire, have been moulded from the cyclopean masses 
of rock that form the mighty defile. The solitude, the 
stillness, the subdued light, and the vastness of every sur- 
rounding object, produce an impression of awe that ulti- 
mately becomes almost painful. As hour after hour 
passed, we began to look anxiously ahead for some sign 
of an outlet from the range, but the declining day brought 
only fresh piles of mountains, higher, apparently, than 
any before seen. 

"A mile above the canon the river swept the base of a 
high hill, with salient angles, like the bastions of a fort. 
At the base was a little ravine, which offered a camping 
place that would be sheltered from observation, and we 
drew the skiff out of the water, determining not to pro- 
ceed any further until to-morrow. Leaving the mate to 
take charge of the boat, the Captain and myself ascended 



126 OUR UNITED STATES 

the hill, which is over a thousand feet high. A scene of 
barren and desolate confusion was spread before us. We 
seemed to have reached the focus or culminating point of 
the volcanic disturbances that have left their traces over 
the whole region south. In almost every direction were 
hills and mountains heaped together without any apparent 
system or order. A small open area intervened between 
camp and a range to the north, and we could trace the 
course of the river as it wound towards the east, form- 
ing the Great Bend. In the direction of the Mormon 
road to Utah, which is but twenty miles distant, the coun- 
try looked less broken, and it was evident that there 
would be no difficulty in opening a wagon communication 
between the road and the river. 

"Not a trace of vegetation could be discovered, but the 
glaring monotony of the rocks was somewhat relieved 
by grotesque and fanciful varieties of coloring. The 
great towers that formed the northern gateway of the 
canon were striped with crimson and yellow bands ; the 
gravel bluffs bordering the river exhibited brilliant al- 
ternations of the same hues, and not far to the east, 
mingled with the gray summits, were two or three hills, 
altogether of a blood-red color, that imparted a peculiarly 
ghastly air to the scene. 

**The approach of darkness stopped further observa- 
tions, and we descended to camp, having first taken a good 
look, in every direction, for the smoke of Indian camp 
fires, but without discovering any. In making the six- 
teen miles from last night's bivouac, we have had to 
labor hard for thirteen hours, stemming the strong cur- 
rent, and crossing the numerous rapids, and being thor- 
oughly exhausted, depend for security to-night more upon 
our concealed position than upon any vigilance that is 
likely to be exhibited." 



ARMY 127 

The following day, March 12th, after pursuing the 
journey a few miles, Lieutenant Ives determined not to 
try to ascend the Colorado any further, and the descent of 
the river was accomplished with greater ease than the 
journey up. Upon reaching the Explorer, the first 
question asked was if any news had been received from 
the long expected pack train, but receiving an unfavor- 
able reply. Lieutenant Ives decided to return at once, and 
preparations were accordingly begun in all haste for a 
descent of the river the following morning. 

At sunset, one of the Indian runners, who had been 
despatched to Fort Yuma some time previously, returned 
to the party with the information that he had passed the 
pack train somewhere in the mountains below the mouth 
of Bill Williams' Fork. A note from Lieutenant Tipton, 
dated March 5th, informed Lieutenant Ives that great 
difficulty in travel had made the progress of the pack 
train very slow, but that it was pushing forward as 
rapidly as possible. This encouraging news, and the re- 
ceipt of home letters and news, with the prospect of a 
speedy change of diet, occasioned general hilarity in camp, 
with the result that the Indian runner was loaded with 
favors and gifts. 

The meeting with the pack train occurred near the foot 
of Pyramid Canon. Although grass had been very scarce 
and the mules had suffered accordingly, the pack train 
had not been seriously menaced until within a day or 
two, when the conduct of the Mojaves had become suspi- 
cious. These Indians attempted to set fire at night to the 
grass surrounding the camp. 

"Lieutenant Tipton had been strongly tempted to at- 
tack them, but felt reluctant to have any outbreak while 
ignorant of the conditions of my party," writes Lieu- 
tenant Ives. "Two Yumas, who had acted as guides, had 



128 OUR UNITED STATES 

a talk with Mojaves, and told Mr. Tipton that the Mor- 
mons had been endeavoring in every way to excite the 
hostility of the last-mentioned Indians against the ex- 
pedition, and had urged them to commence an attack by 
stampeding the animals. This statement coincides en- 
tirely with what Ireteba and Mariano have repeatedly 
told me. I have found these two Indians invariably 
truthful, and know not what object they could have had 
in manufacturing a false story. Corroborated as it is by 
the Yumas and by many circumstances that have oc- 
curred, I hardly know how to discredit it, though I feel 
reluctant to believe that any white men could be guilty 
of such unprovoked rascality. 

"I now hastened the preparations for departure, being 
anxious to leave. A rupture with the Mojaves would 
have seriously interfered with the progress of the ex- 
pedition. The land explorations would have been de- 
layed and perhaps altogether disconcerted. With foes 
on the bank, it would have been impossible for the steam- 
boat party to descend the river without a detachment on 
either shore to defend them from attack, and this would 
have necessitated the return of all the members of the 
expedition to Fort Yuma. I now made an almost equal 
division of the force. The officers of the Explorer, 
with Messrs. Taylor, Bielawski, and Booker, half of the 
escort, and all but three of my men, were selected to go 
back with the boat. Dr. Newberry, Messrs. Egloffstein, 
Mollhausen, and Peacock, three laborers, the Mexican 
packers, together with twenty soldiers, commanded by 
Lieutenant Tipton, composed the land party. The notes 
and collections were placed in charge of Mr. Taylor, to 
transport to Washington. The preparation of maps, re- 
ports, and letters, the division of provisions, and selec- 
tion of the articles to be carried across the plains, oc- 



ARMY 129 

cupied a large portion of the night. By eight this morn- 
ing the steamboat detachment was ready to leave, and 
our friends on the Explorer bid us good-bye and were 
soon out of sight beyond a turn in the river." 

The land party made their toilsome way by Meadow 
Creek, Litgreaves' Pass, and Railroad Pass to Peacock's 
spring, which was reached the last day of March. Leav- 
ing the Cerbat basin, the course lay toward a low point in 
the extension of the Agnarius mountains — another chain 
almost parallel to the Black and Cerbat ranges. 

"After entering it the trail took a sudden turn to the 
north, in which direction it continued. The sun was 
very hot, and the mules, not having had plentiful drink 
of water for four days, showed marks of distress. 
Ireteba, at my request, again went in search of some 
Haulapais tractable enough to enlist for a few days in 
our service. After an absence of several hours he came 
back and reported that he had discovered two who were 
willing to go. In a little while, from_ the top of a neigh- 
bouring hill, a discordant screaming was heard, pro- 
ceeding from two Indians who were suspiciously sur- 
veying camp. It was some time before our Mojaves 
could persuade them to approach, and when they did they 
looked like men who had screwed up their courage to 
face a mortal peril. They were squalid, wretched-look- 
ing creatures, with splay feet, large joints, and diminutive 
figures, but had bright eyes and cunning faces, and re- 
sembled a little the Chemehuevis. Taking them into the 
tent occupied by Lieutenant Tipton and myself, with 
many misgivings as to how many varieties of animal 
life were being introduced there, I brought out some 
pipes and tobacco and told Ireteba to proceed with the 
negotiations. 

"The conclusion arrived at was that they knew noth- 



130 OUR UNITED STATES 

ing about the country — neither a good road nor the lo- 
caHties of grass and water; that they were out hunting 
and had lost their way, and had no idea of the direc- 
tion even of their own villages. This very probable state- 
ment I correctly supposed to be a hint that they were not 
to be approached empty-handed; for when Ireteba had 
been authorized to make a distinct offer of beads and 
blankets, one of them recollected where he was, and also 
that there were watering places ahead to which he could 
guide us. 

"It was thought advisable to again lie over for a day ; 
and they went away, agreeing to be in camp on the day 
but one following. 

"A third Haulapais turned up this morning; he had 
features like a toad's and the most villainous countenance 
I ever saw on a human being. Mr. MuUhausen sug- 
gested that we should take him and preserve him in 
alcohol as a zoological specimen ; and at last he be- 
came alarmed at the steadfast gaze he was attracting, 
and withdrew to the edge of a rock overhanging the 
cook's fire, where he remained till dark, with his eyes 
fixed in an unbroken stare upon the victuals. The Haul- 
apais are but a little removed from the Diggers. They 
present a remarkable contrast to our tall and athletic 
Mojaves." 

"Big Canon of the Colorado, April 3. — The two Haul- 
apais preserved the credit of the Indian employes by be- 
ing punctual to their engagement, and led off in company 
with the Mojaves as we ascended the ravine from Pea- 
cock's spring. At the end of ten miles the ridge of the 
swell was attained, and a splendid panorama burst sud- 
denly into view. In the foreground were low hills, 
intersected by numberless ravines ; beyond these a lofty 
line of bluffs marked the edge of an immense canon; a 



ARMY 131 

wide gap was directly ahead, and through it were be- 
held, to the extreme limit of vision, vast plateaus, tower- 
ing one above the other thousands of feet in the air, the 
long horizontal bands broken at intervals by wide and 
profound abysses, and extending, a hundred miles to the 
north, till the deep azure blue faded into a light cerulean 
tint that blended with the dome of the heavens. The 
famous 'Big Caiion' was before us ; and for a long 
time we paused in wondering delight, surveying this stu- 
pendous formation through which the Colorado and its 
tributaries break their way. 

"The Haulapais were now of great assistance, for the 
ravines crossed and forked in intricate confusion ; even 
Ireteba, who had hitherto led the train, became at a 
loss how to proceed, and had to put the little Haulapais 
in front. The latter, being perfectly at home, conducted 
us rapidly down the declivity. The descent was great 
and the trail blind and circuitous. A few miles of dif- 
ficult travelling brought us into a narrow valley flanked 
by steep and high slopes ; a sparkling stream crossed its 
centre, and gurgling in some tall grass nearby announced 
the presence of a spring. This morning we left the 
valley and followed the course of a creek down a ravine, 
in the bed of which the water at intervals sank and 
rose for two or three miles, when it altogether disap- 
peared. The ravine soon attained the proportion of a 
canon. The place grew wilder and grander. The sides 
of the tortuous caiion became loftier, and before long 
we were hemmed in by walls two thousand feet high. 
The increasing magnitude of the collossal piles that 
blocked the end of the vista, and the corresponding depth 
and gloom of the gaping chasms into which we were 
plunging, imparted an unearthly character to a way that 
might have resembled the portals of the infernal regions. 



132 OUR UNITED STATES 

Harsh screams issuing from aerial recesses in the canon 
sides, and apparitions of gobHn-Hke figures perched in 
the rifts and hollows of the impending cliffs, gave an odd 
reality to this impression. At short distances other ave- 
nues of equally magnificent proportion came in from one 
side or the other; and no trail being left on the rocky 
pathway, the idea suggested itself that were the guides to 
desert us our experience might further resemble that of 
the dwellers in the unblest abodes — in the difficulty of 
getting out. 

**Huts of the rudest construction, visible here and there 
in some sheltered niche or beneath a projecting rock, 
and the sight of a hideous old squaw, staggering under 
a bundle of fuel, showed that we had penetrated into 
the domestic retreats of the Haulapais nation. Our party 
being, in all probability, the first company of whites that 
had ever been seen by them, we had anticipated produc- 
ing a great effect, and were a little chagrined when the 
old woman, and two or three others of both sexes that 
were met, went by without taking the slightest notice of 
us. If pack trains had been in the habit of passing 
twenty times a day, they could not have manifested a 
more complete indifference. 

"Seventeen miles of this strange travel had now been 
accomplished. The road was becoming more difficult, 
and we looked ahead distrustfully into the dark and ap- 
parently interminable windings, and wondered where we 
were to find a camping place. At last we struck a wide 
branch caiion coming in from the south, and saw with 
joyful surprise a beautiful and brilliantly clear stream of 
water gushing over a pebbly bed in the centre, and shoot- 
ing from between the rocks in sparkling jets and im- 
mature cascades. On either side was an oasis of verdure 
— young willows and a thick patch of grass. Camp was 



ARMY 133 

speedily formed, and men and mules have had a wel- 
come rest after their fatiguing journey. 

"Camp 69, Cedar Forest, April 5. — A short walk down 
the bed of the Diamond river, on the morning after we 
had reached it, disclosed the famous Colorado Cation. 
. . . The day was spent in an examination of the 
localities. This plateau formation has been undisturbed 
by volcanic action, and the sides of the cafion exhibit 
all the series that compose the table lands of New 
Mexico, presenting, perhaps, the most splendid exposure 
of stratified rocks that there is in the world. 

"Pine forest, April 10. — Four miles from the camp in 
the Cedar forest, were some large pools of water in a 
rocky ravine. The supply had been derived from melting 
snows, and the place would be dry a little later in the 
season. 

"The next morning both the Haulapais were missing. 
They had run away during the night, taking with them a 
little flour and a pair of blankets. What had frightened 
the guides off we could not imagine. We had now 
entered a region of pine. 

"The next day an early start was made. We had to 
select our own way through the forest, being for the 
first time without the guidance of those who were familiar 
with the country, and what was more important, in this 
arid region, with the whereabouts of watering places. 
The pine trees became larger and the forest more dense 
as we proceeded. A heavy gale roared among the 
branches overhead, and about noon it commenced snow- 
ing. 

"Ascending to the table land, we happened upon an 
open portion of the forest and encountered the full vio- 
lence of the storm. Men and mules huddled together 
under such trees as afforded the best shelter, and waited 



134 OUR UNITED STATES 

as resignedly as possible till the fury of the tempest had 
somewhat abated. The snow and the gale continued 
nearly all of the next day. The grass was entirely 
covered. The animals had to fast for twenty-four hours 
longer, and I thought that last night would have finished 
the majority of them, but singularly enough not one had 
died. 

"Our altitude is very great, — the barometer shows an 
elevation of nearly seven thousand feet. 

"April 12. — A march of twenty miles having been made, 
and no sign of water appearing, we had to put up with 
a dry camp. The grass was miserable, and altogether 
the mules fared badly. During the night the herders 
v/ere negligent, and at daybreak nearly a hundred of the 
animals were missing. They had taken the back trail for 
the lagoons, but having started late and travelled leisurely 
were overtaken not many miles from camp. The trip 
did not render them better fitted for the day's journey, 
which had to be delayed until they were brought back 
ten miles, conducted to the head of a ravine down which 
was a well beaten Indian trail. In the course of a few 
miles we had gone down into the plateau one or two 
thousand feet. Still no signs of water. The worn-out 
and thirsty beasts had begun to flag, when we were 
brought to a standstill by a fall a hundred feet deep in 
the bottom of the cation. At the brink of the precipice 
was an overhanging ledge of rocks, from which we could 
look down as into a well upon the continuation of the 
gorge far below. It seemed a marvel that a trail should 
be found leading to a place where there was nothing to 
do but return. A closer inspection showed that the trail 
still continued along the cafion, traversing horizontally 
the face of the right hand bluff. The slight indentation 
appeared like a thread attached to the rocky wall, but a 



ARMY 135 

trial proved that the path, though narrow and dizzy, had 
been cut with some care into the surface of the cHff, and 
afforded a foothold level and broad enough both for 
men and animals. I rode upon it first, and the rest of 
the party and the train followed — one by one — looking 
very much like a row of insects crawling upon the side of 
a building. The bottom of the caiion meanwhile had 
been rapidly descending, and there were two or three 
falls where it dropped a hundred feet at a time, thus 
greatly increasing the depth of the chasm. The change 
had taken place so gradually that I was not sensible of 
it, till glancing down the side of my mule, I found that 
he was walking within three inches of the brink of a 
sheer gulf a thousand feet deep; on the other side, nearly 
touching my knee, was an almost vertical wall rising to 
an enormous altitude. The sight made my head swim, 
and I dismounted and got ahead of the mule, a difficult 
and delicate operation, which I was thankful to have 
safely performed. A part of the men became so giddy 
that they were obliged to creep upon their hands and 
knees, being unable to walk or stand. In some places 
there was barely room to walk, and a slight deviation in 
a step would have precipitated one into the frightful 
abyss. 

''After an interval of uncomfortable suspense, the face 
of the rock made an angle, and just beyond the turn was 
a projection from the main wall with a surface fifteen or 
twenty yards square that would afford a foothold. The 
continuation of the wall was perfectly vertical, so that 
the trail could no longer follow it, and we found that the 
path descended the steep face of the cliff to the bottom 
of the canon. It did not take long to discover that no 
mule could accomplish this descent, and nothing remained 
but to turn back. The jaded brutes were collected upon 



136 OUR UNITED STATES 

this little summit where they could be turned around, 
and then commenced to re-form for the hazardous jour- 
ney. The sun shone directly into the cafion, and the 
glare reflected from the walls made the heat intolerable. 
The disappointed beasts, now two days without water, 
with glassy eyes and protruding tongues, plodded slowly 
along, uttering the most melancholy cries. The nearest 
water of which we had knowledge was almost thirty 
miles distant. 

**There was but one chance of saving the train, and 
after reaching an open portion of the ravine, the packs 
and saddles were removed, and two or three Mexicans 
started for the lagoons mounted upon the least exhausted 
animals, and driving the others loose before them. It 
was somewhat dangerous to detach them thus far from 
the main party, but there was no help for it. I gave in- 
structions to the Mexicans not to return for a couple of 
days. This will give the beasts time to rest, and afford 
us an opportunity of exploring the trail beyond the preci- 
pice, where we had to stop. 

"Camp 73, Colorado plateau, April 14. — Lieutenant 
Tipton, Mr. Egloffstein, Mr. Peacock, and myself with 
a dozen men, formed the party to explore the canon, 
which from the summit looked smooth, was covered with 
hills, thirty or forty feet high. ... At the end of thirteen 
miles from the precipice an obstacle presented itself that 
there seemed to be no possibility of overcoming. A 
stone slab, reaching from one side of the caiion to the 
other, terminated the plane which we were descending. 
Looking over the edge it appeared that the next level 
was forty feet below. A spring of water rose from the 
bed of the canon not far above, and trickled over the 
ledge, forming a pretty cascade. It was supposed that 
the Indians must have come to this point merely to pro- 



ARMY 137 

cure water, but this theory was not altogether satisfac- 
tory and we sat down upon the rocks to discuss the 
matter. 

*'Mr. Egloffstein lay down by the side of the creek, 
and projecting his head over the ledge to watch the cas- 
cade, discovered a solution of the mystery. Below the 
shelving rock, and hidden by it and the fall, stood a crazy 
looking ladder, made of rough sticks bound together 
with thongs of bark. It was almost perpendicular, and 
rested upon a bed of angular stones. The rounds had 
become rotten from the incessant flow of water. Mr. 
Eglofifstein, anxious to have the first view of what was 
below, scrambled over the ledge and got his feet upon 
the upper round. Being a solid weight, he was too much 
for the insecure fabric, which commenced giving way. 
One side fortunately stood firm, and holding on to this 
with a tight grip, he made a precipitate descent. The 
other side and all the rounds broke loose and accompanied 
him to the bottom in a general crash, effectually cutting 
off the communication. Leaving us to devise means of 
getting him back he ran to the bend to explore. The 
canon Mr. Egloffstein saw could not be followed far; 
there were cascades just below. He perceived, however, 
that he was very near to its mouth and an Indian pointed 
out the exact spot where it united with the canon of the 
Rio Colorado. 

"It now remained to get Mr. Egloffstein back. The 
slings upon the soldiers' muskets were taken off and 
knotted together, and a line thus made which reached 
the bottom. Whether it would support his weight was 
a matter of experiment. It was a hard straight lift. 
The ladder pole was left, and rendered great assistance 
both to us and the rope, and the ascent was safely ac- 
complished. 



138 OUR UNITED STATES 

"The examination being finished, it was time to return. 
On leaving camp we had expected to be back before 
night, and we had brought neither provisions nor over- 
coats. . . . Night came before the foot of the precipice 
where the train had stopped was reached. It was im- 
possible to distinguish the way in the dark, and we had 
to halt. After nightfall, as is always the case in these 
regions, it became black and cold. The cafion was as dark 
as a dungeon. The surface of the ground being covered 
with rocks, a recumbent position was uncomfortable, and 
the rocks being interspersed with prickly pear and some 
other varieties of cactaccae it would have been unwise to 
walk about. The choice, therefore, lay between sitting 
down and standing still, which two recreations we essayed 
alternately for twelve hours, that might have been, from 
the sensations of the party, twelve days. As soon as it 
was light enough to see the way we put our stiffened 
limbs in motion. The summit once attained it was but 
five miles to camp, but the violent exercise of ascent, 
coming after a twenty-four hours' abstinence from food 
and rest, and a walk of more than thirty miles over a 
difficult road, proved so exhausting that during the last 
stretch, two or three of the men broke down, and had 
to have coffee and food sent back to them before they 
could proceed. 

"Camp 74, Forest lagoons, April 18. — Our ever recon- 
noitering parties have now been in all directions, and 
everywhere have been headed off by impassable obstacles. 
. . . The positions of the main water-courses have been 
determined with considerable accuracy. . . . The lagoons 
by the side of which we are encamped furnish, as far as 
we have been able to discover, the only accessible water- 
ing place west of the mouth of the Diamond river. Dur- 
ing the Summer it is probable they are dry, and that no 



ARMY 139 

water exists upon the whole of the Colorado plateau. 
We start for the south with some anxiety, not knowing 
how long it may be before water will be again met 
with. . . . 

"The mules, ignorant of what was before them, refused, 
as mules often do, to drink on the morning before leaving 
camp. A southeast course was followed. As the day 
advanced the heat became more oppressive, and a tract 
was entered where, the soil being loose and porous, the 
animals sank to their fetlocks at every step. 

"Darkness came on before we had quite accomplished 
the descent upon the opposite side, and it was necessary to 
camp, not only without water, but on a very short allow- 
ance of grass. In spite of all the precautions some of 
the mules strayed, and while hunting for them a man got 
lost. By the time all were found the sun was high in the 
heaven, and shining with even more fervor than on the 
previous day. ... At the end of ten miles of weary 
travel a steep ascent brought us to the summit of a table 
that overlooked the country towards the south for a 
hundred miles. No place could be descried, far or near, 
that gave a promise of containing water. A more 
frightfully arid region probably does not exist upon the 
face of the earth. The wretched and broken down ani- 
mals, now forty-eight hours without drinking, and that, 
too, while making long marches under a burning sun, 
were brought to a halt. They had to be tightly hobbled, 
for, in their frantic desire for water, nothing else could 
have restrained them from rushing back to the only place 
where they were certain of finding it. Too thirsty to 
graze, they stood all night about camp, filling the air 
with distressing cries. This morning the weakened 
brutes staggered under their packs as though they were 
drunk, and their dismal moaning portended a speedy solu- 



140 OUB UNITED STATES 

tion of their troubles should water not soon be found. 
For the third time the sun rose hot and glaring, and as 
the great globe of fire mounted the heavens its rays 
seemed to burn the brain. In this hot, dry atmosphere, 
when exercise is taken, the evaporation from the system 
is very great, and unless this is compensated for, the 
body soon becomes intensely parched. The men now 
suffered as well as the beasts. Mile after mile the dreary 
ride continued, and the flagging pace of the mules showed 
that they were on the eve of exhaustion. . . . 

"Our hopes rose upon seeing surface not composed of 
loose pebbles or porous earth, and we urged the fainting 
animals down the hill. Green grass carpeted the bottom 
of the ravine, a few hundred yards from its mouth a pro- 
jecting ledge threw a deep cool shadow over an extensive 
pool of clear, delicious looking water. The crazy beasts 
crowding and huddling upon one another, plunged into 
the pond and drank until they were ready to burst. A 
few yards above smaller basins of rock filled with the 
delightful beverage furnished an ample supply for the 
men." 

In conclusion Lieutenant Ives remarks : 

"The Navajoes at this time began to exhibit symptoms 
of disaffection. Our arrival at Fort Defiance was none 
too soon. Only a fortnight afterwards hostilities broke 
out between the tribe and the United States troops, which 
have seriously imperilled our safety had they commenced 
while we were passing through the Navajo territory. 
As it was, we reached the settlements upon the Rio 
Grande without interruption. All of the party, excepting 
myself, continued on towards the east crossing the plains 
from Santa Fe to Fort Leavenworth, and repairing 
thence to the seaboard. It was necessary for me to dis- 
pose of the steamer and certain property at Fort Yuma, 



ARMY 141 

and to settle the accounts of some members of the ex- 
pedition who had gone back in the boat, and I accord- 
ingly took the stage from Santa Fe to El Paso, and from 
that place followed the southern overland mail route to 
San Diego. After disposing of the little boat that had 
done us such good service, to the transportation com- 
pany at the fort, I bid farewell to Captain Robinson and 
the Colorado, and proceeding to San Francisco took the 
first steamer for New York." 



CHAPTER X 
Building of the Transcontinental Railroads 

To join the great Pacific coast with its rapidly increas- 
ing interests and population, with the East by railroad 
transportation became a vital question to the welfare of 
the Government. As early as 1836, a public meeting had 
been called by John Plumbe, a civil engineer of Dubuque, 
Iowa, to consider the project of such a railroad. Fre- 
mont's valuable explorations had stimulated public inter- 
est and during the years from 1840 to 1850 the question 
was repeatedly brought to the attention of the Govern- 
ment. Shortly before the close of the session in March, 
1853, the first practical step was taken. This measure 
was the passage of the Salmon P. Chase bill appropriating 
$150,000 for the exploration of various routes along 
which it was supposed a railroad might be constructed 
west of the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. 

Under the supervision of the War Department, Captain 
Humphreys being in charge of the Pacific Railroad 
Office, six parties were fitted out and placed in the field. 
They were thoroughly equipped for scientific labors. 
The Smithsonian Institution had charge of the direction 
of the natural history apparatus, and furnished the neces- 
sary instruction as to the objects most important to be 
collected. 

The parties organized were as follows : 

1. Line of the 47th parallel. — This portion of the sur- 

142 



ARMY 148 

vey placed under the command of Governor I. I. Stevens, 
was extensive in its organization, and first in the field. 
It v^as divided into two quite distinct parties, one pro- 
ceeding across the country to the Pacific, the other start- 
ing at the Columbia River and moving towards the east. 
The first division, immediately in charge of Governor 
Stevens, left St. Paul (where it was principally fitted out) 
on the 8th of June, 1853, and proceeded directly to Fort 
Union, at the mouth of the Yellowstone. Here it was 
joined by Lieutenant Donelson, who had embarked in 
the Fur Company's boat at St. Louis. From Fort Union 
the party proceeded along the Missouri to the mouth of 
Milk River, and up this stream to Fort Benten ; thence 
across the mountains to the Mission of St. Mary's ; thence 
to Fort Colville, by the way of the Coeur d' Alene; and 
finally to Vancouver and Olympia. Collateral lines were 
also traversed at the same or different times by Lieu- 
tenant Mullan, Lieutenant Donelson, Lieutenant Saxton, 
and others. The western division of the line, under 
command of Captain G. B. McClellan, proceeded from 
New York to San Francisco ; thence to Vancouver, and 
next explored both sides of the Cascade Mountains for 
some distance northward. The party met Governor 
Stevens at Fort Colville, and continued thence to the 
northern boundary line. The main party, under Gov- 
ernor Stevens, was accompanied by Dr. George Suckley, 
United States Army, as surgeon and naturalist, although 
collections were also made by Lieutenants Donelson and 
Mullan. 

2. Line of the 38th, 39th, and 41st parallels.— This 
party was first organized under command of Captain 
J. W. Gunnison and Captain E. G. Beckwith. It started 
from Camp Shawnee Reservation on the 20th of June, 
and proceeded up the Sandy Hill fork of the Kansas; 



144 OVR UNITED STATES 

thence across to the Arkansas and up to the Apispah. 
They next passed over to the Trincheres, next to the 
Huerfano, and over the mountains to Fort Massachusetts, 
by the El Sangre de Cristo pass. They next went 
through the Coochetope pass to Grand River of the 
Colorado, and finally, by way of the Wahsatch pass 
nearly to Sevier lake. Here a portion of the party, in- 
cluding Captain Gunnison, Mr. Kern, and Mr. Kreuz- 
feldt, was surprised by a band of Pah-Utahs and all 
killed. The command of the expedition then devolved 
upon Captain Beckwith, who proceeded to Salt Lake 
City, and thence in the Spring of 1854, by way of Fort 
Reading, to California, and back to Washington. 

3. Line of the 35th parallel, under Captain A. W. 
Whipple. — This party was almost as extensive in its 
organization and operations as that under Governor 
Stevens. For a time there were two divisions ; one under 
Captain Whipple, with Mr. H. B. Mollhausen as artist 
and zoologist and Doctor Bigelow, surgeon and botanist ; 
the other under Lieutenant J. C. Ives, accompanied by 
Dr. C. B. Kennedy, as surgeon and naturalist. The 
party under Captain Whipple went from Fort Smith 
mainly up the Arkansas River, and across the Llano 
Estacada, via Anton Chico, to Albuquerque. Here it 
was met by Lieutenant Ives' division, which had pro- 
ceeded by way of New Orleans, Indianola, and San An- 
tonio to El Paso, by the usual mail route, and thence 
north to Albuquerque. From Albuquerque the united 
party went to the Little Colorado by way of Zuni ; next, 
by way of the San Francisco mountains to Bill Williams' 
Fork; down this stream to the Colorado; then up the 
Mohave, and across to San Francisco. 

4. California line, under Lieutenant R. S. Williamson. 
— This party proceeded to San Francisco by the sea, 



ARMY 145 

where it was fitted out. Passing up the San Joaquin and 
Tulare valley, they explored the region about Walker's 
pass, the Tejon and other passes, and portions of the 
Mohave and Colorado. 

5. Line of the 32nd parallel, west. — After the com- 
pletion of Lieutenant Williamson's survey, Lieutenant 
Parke, who had accompanied him as assistant, proceeded 
by way of Warner's ranch to Fort Yuma, and up the Gila 
to the Pimo and Maricopa villages, thence by way of 
Tucson, the Copper Mines (Fort Webster) and Dona 
Ana, to El Paso. From this point the party returned to 
Washington by way of San Antonio. 

6. Line of the 32nd parallel, east, under Captain J. 
Pope. — This party started from El Paso, and proceeded 
in almost a straight line eastward to Preston, on Red 
River, passing through the Guadaloupe Mountains. The 
Pecos was crossed at the mouth of Delaware Creek, and 
the Llano Estacado traversed for a distance of 125 miles. 

The preceding lines are those organized or detailed for 
duty in the year 1853. Subsequent parties, however, 
were from time to time sent out by the War Depart- 
ment, either to verify old routes, or to determine new 
ones. 

The project of a transcontinental railroad developed 
by private enterprise was regarded by a large number of 
American citizens as a mad and impracticable undertak- 
ing. It had received little encouragement in public 
opinion and practically no financial support, except by 
those few far seeing promoters who realized that the 
development of the country west of the Missouri River 
would depend largely upon the constructive forces of 
railway communication. 

The line along the forty-second parallel of latitude 
known as the Great Platte Valley Route, explored by 



146 OUR UNITED STATES 

General Dodge, Mr. Peter Day and others, was finally 
chosen. This route was made by the buffalo, next used 
by the Indians, then by the fur traders, next by the Mor- 
mons, and then by the overland immigration to California 
and Oregon. On this trail, or close to it, was built the 
Union and Central Pacific railroads to California, and 
the Oregon Short Line branch of the Union Pacific to 
Oregon. 

"Up to 1858," writes Major-General G. M. Dodge, 
Chief Engineer of the Union Pacific Railway, "all the 
projects for building a railroad across the continent were 
regarded as the Pacific roads, each route mentioned hav- 
ing a particular name, 

"In 1856 both poHtical parties in convention passed 
resolutions favoring a Pacific railroad, and in 1857 
President Buchanan advocated it as a reason for holding 
the Pacific coast people in the Union, and it was this 
sentiment that gave to the forty-second parallel line the 
name of the Union Pacific Railroad. In the Thirty- 
sixth Congress, General S. R. Curtis, of Iowa, then in 
Congress, became the champion of the Union Pacific. 
Curtis's bill passed the House in December, 1860. It 
failed to become a law, as the question of secession was 
up then and Lincoln had been elected President. In the 
extra session of the Thirty-second Congress in July 1861, 
Curtis reintroduced the bill and he left Congress to enter 
the army. Lincoln advocated its passage and building, 
not only as a military necessity, but as a means of hold- 
ing the Pacific coast to the Union. This bill became a 
law in 1862. 

"The Union Pacific Railway was organized on Sep- 
tember 2, 1862, at Chicago, Major General S. R. Curtis, 
of Iowa, being chairman of the commissioners appointed 
by Congress," says General Dodge. "In the Spring of 



ARMY 147 

1863, when in command of the district of Corinth, Miss., 
I received a despatch from General Grant to proceed to 
Washington and report to President Lincoln. No ex- 
planation coming with the despatch, and having a short 
time before organized and armed some negroes for the 
purpose of guarding a contraband camp which we had 
at Corinth, which act had been greatly criticized in the 
army and by civilians, I was somewhat alarmed, think- 
ing possibly I was to be called to account. But on ar- 
riving at Washington I discovered that my summons was 
due to an interview between Mr. Lincoln and myself at 
Council Bluffs in August, 1859. He was there to look 
after an interest in the Riddle tract he had bought of 
Mr. N. B. Judd, of Chicago. I had just arrived from 
an exploring trip to the westward, and after dinner, 
while I was resting on the stoop of the Pacific House, 
Mr. Lincoln sat down beside me, and by his kindly ways 
soon drew from me all I knew of the country west, and 
the results of my reconnaissances. As the saying is, he 
completely 'shelled my woods' getting all the secrets 
that were later to go to my employers. 

"Under the law of 1862 the President was to fix the 
eastern terminus of the Union Pacific Railway, and 
remembering our talk in the fifties, he wished to con- 
sult me in the matter. 

"The towns on the Missouri River within a distance 
of 100 miles of the mouth of the Platte River were using 
their influence to have the terminus made at each of their 
places, but it was evident that Mr. Lincoln had deter- 
mined upon some point north of the mouth of the Platte 
River, so that great valley could be utilized for the route 
of the railroad. After his interview with me, in which 
he showed a perfect knowledge of the question, and 
satisfying himself as to the engineering questions that 



148 OUR UNITED STATES 

had been raised, I was satisfied he would locate the ter- 
minus at or near Council Bluffs. 

"On March 8, 1864, he notified the United States 
Senate that on the 17th day of November, 1863, he had 
located the 'eastern terminus of the Union Pacific Rail- 
way within the limits of the township of Omaha.' 
'Since then,' he says, 'the company has represented 
to me that upon added survey made it has determined 
upon the precise point of departure of the branch road 
from the Missouri River, and located same within the 
limits designated in the order of November last.* 

"Mr. Lincoln also took up with me the construction 
of the road. I expressed opinion that no private enter- 
prise could build it, and that it must be done by the 
Government. He answered that the government had its 
hands full in the war, but was willing to support any 
company to the full extent of its power. After saying 
good-bye to the President, I went immediately to New 
York and Messrs. Durant, Cisco and others then con- 
nected with the company and reported Mr. Lincoln's 
words. It gave new courage to the company. The law 
of 1864 was passed, and Mr. Dey let the first contracts 
and grading was started in the fall of 1864, and the first 
rail laid in July, 1865. Look back to the beginning at 
the Missouri River, with no railway communication from 
the East, and 500 miles of the country in advance with- 
out timber, fuel, or any material whatever from which 
to build or maintain a road, except the sand for the bare 
roadbed itself, with everything to be transported and 
that by teams, or at best by steamboats, for hundreds 
and thousands of miles." 

"The Union Pacific was the pioneer and the first to lead 
the march of civilization into the wilderness," says Mr. 
John N. Baldwin, its General SoHcitor. "It was not 



ARMY 149 

conceived for private ends nor born of the spirit of com- 
mercialism, but was created to preserve a republic and 
projected by the impulse of improvement. 

"It is the only railroad in the United States that was 
constructed under federal muskets and protected by fed- 
eral troops, and of which it was said by the Supreme 
Court of the United States that the people of this coun- 
try would have sanctioned the action of Congress in its 
creation if it had departed from the traditional policy 
of the country regarding work of internal improvement 
and charged the Government itself with the direction 
and execution of the enterprise." 

In 1865, Mr. Dey, who up to that date had been 
Chief Engineer of the Union Pacific, resigned his posi- 
tion and the office was tendered to Major General 
Grenville M. Dodge. At that time General Dodge was 
in command of the United States forces on the plains 
in the Indian campaigns. General Grant was unwilling 
that he should leave but having finished his work by 
May, 1866, he was granted leave of absence by General 
W. T. Sherman, and entered upon the responsibilities 
of his new position shortly after General Dodge resigned 
his commission in the army to devote himself exclusively 
to the new enterprise. 

"The organization for the construction of the Union 
Pacific Railway," writes General Dodge, "was upon a 
military basis, nearly every man upon it had been in the 
Civil War; the heads of most of the engineering parties 
and all chiefs of the construction forces were officers in 
the Civil War; the chief of the track-laying force. Gen- 
eral Casement, had been a distinguished division com- 
mander in the Civil War, and at any moment I could 
call into the field a thousand men, well officered, ready 
to meet any crisis or any emergency. 



150 OUR UNITED STATES 

*'From the beginning to the completion of that road," 
he continues, "our success depended in a great measure 
on the cordial and active support of the army, especially 
its commander in chief, General Grant, and the com- 
mander of the Military Division of the West, General 
Sherman. He took a personal interest in the project. 
He visited the work several times each year during its 
continuance, and I vc^as in the habit of communicating 
with him each month, detailing my progress and laying 
before him my plans. In return I received letters from 
him almost every month. We also had the cordial sup- 
port of the district commanders of the country through 
which we operated — General Augur, General Cook, Gen- 
eral Gibbon, and General Stevenson, and their subordi- 
nates. General Grant had given full and positive 
instructions that every support should be given to me, 
and General Sherman in the detailed instructions prac- 
tically left it to my own judgment as to what support 
should be given by the troops on the plains. They were 
also instructed to furnish my surveying parties with pro- 
visions from the posts whenever our provisions should 
give out, and the subordinate officers, following the 
example of their chiefs, responded to every demand 
made no matter at what time of day or night, what time 
of year or in what weather, and took as much interest 
in the matter as we did. 

"General Sherman's great interest in the enterprise 
originated from the fact that he personally, in 1849, took 
from General Smith, commander on the Pacific Coast, 
the instructions to Lieutenants Warner and Williamson, 
of the engineers, who made the first surveys coming 
east from California, to ascertain, if possible, whether 
it was practicable to cross the Sierra Nevada, range of 
mountains with a railroad. These instructions were 



ARMY 151 

sent at General Sherman's own suggestion, and the 
orders, and examination preceded the act of Congress 
making appropriations for explorations and surveys for 
a railroad route from the Mississippi River to the Pacific 
Ocean by four years. General Sherman's interest lasted 
during his life-time, and was signalized in the closing 
days of his official life by a summary of transcontinental 
railroad construction, the most exhaustive paper on the 
subject I have ever seen." 

The track-laying on the Union Pacific was a science. 
Mr. W. A. Bell, in an article on the Pacific Railroads, 
describes, after witnessing it, as follows : 

"We pundits of the far East, stood upon that embank- 
ment, only about a thousand miles this side of sunset, 
and backed westward before that hurrying corps of 
sturdy operators with a mingled feeling of amusement, 
curiosity, and profound respect. On they came. A 
tight car, drawn by a single horse, gallops up to the front 
with its load of rails. Two men seize the end of a rail 
and start forward, the rest of the gang taking hold by 
twos, until it is clear of the car. They came forward at 
a run. At the word of command the rail is dropped in 
its place, right side up with care, while the same process 
goes on at the other side of the car. Less than thirty 
seconds to a rail for each gang, and so four rails go down 
to the minute. Quick work, you say, but the fellows on 
the Union Pacific are tremendously in earnest. The 
moment the car is empty it is tipped over on the side of 
the track to let the next loaded car pass it, and then it is 
tipped back again ; and it is a sight to see it go flying 
back for another load, propelled by a horse at full gallop 
at the end of 60 or 80 feet of rope, ridden by a young 
Jehu, who drives furiously. Close behind the first gang 
come the gangers, spikers, and bolters, and a lively time 



152 OUR UNITED STATES 

they make of it. It is a grand 'anvil chorus,' that those 
sturdy sledges are playing across the plains. It is in a 
triple time, three strokes to the spike. There are 10 
spikes to a rail, 400 rails to a mile, 1,800 miles to San 
Francisco — 21,000,000 times are those sledges to be 
swung; 21,000,000 times are they to come down with 
their sharp punctuation before the great work of modem 
America is complete." 

"Each of our surveying parties," says General Dodge, 
"consisted of a chief, who was an experienced engineer, 
two assistants, also civil engineers, rodmen, flagmen, and 
chainmen, besides axmen, teamsters, and herders. 
When the party was expected to live upon the game of 
the country a hunter was added. Each party would 
thus consist of from eighteen to twenty-two men, all 
armed. When operating in a hostile Indian country 
they were regularly drilled, though after the Civil War 
this was unnecessary, as most of them had been in the 
army. Each party entering a country occupied by hostile 
Indians was generally furnished with a military escort of 
from ten men to a company under a competent officer. 
The duty of this escort was to protect the party when 
in camp. In the field the escort usually occupied promi- 
nent hills commanding the territory in which the work 
was to be done, so as to head off sudden attacks by the 
Indians. Notwithstanding this protection, the parties 
were often attacked, their chief or some of their men 
killed or wounded, and their stock run off. 

"Our Indian troubles commenced in 1864, and lasted 
until the tracks joined at Promontory. We lost most 
of our men and stock while building from Fort Kearney 
to Bitter Creek. At that time every mile of road had to 
be surveyed, graded, tied, and bridged under military 
protection. The order to every surveying corps, grad- 



ARMY 153 

ing, bridging, and tie outfit was never to run when 
attacked. All were required to be armed ; and I do not 
know that the order was disobeyed in a single instance, 
nor did I ever hear that the Indians had driven a party 
permanently from its work. I remember one occasion 
when they swooped down on a grading outfit in sight 
of the temporary fort of the military some five miles 
away, and right in sight of the end of the track. The 
government commission to examine that section of the 
completed road had just arrived, and the commissioners 
witnessed the fight. The graders had their arms stacked 
on the cut. The Indians leaped from the ravines, and, 
springing upon the workmen before they could reach 
their arms, cut loose the stock and caused a panic. Gen. 
Frank P. Blair, General Simpson, and Doctor White 
were the commissioners, and they showed their grit by 
running to my car for arms to aid in the fight. We did 
not fail to benefit from this experience, for, on returning 
to the East the commission dwelt earnestly on the neces- 
sity of our being protected. 

''During the building of the road from Sherman, west, 
many questions arose in relation to the location, con- 
struction, the grades and curvatures of the work. All 
through I stood firmly for my line, for what I consid- 
ered was a commercially economical line for the com- 
pany, and for what I thought we ought to build under 
the specifications of the Government. News of the con- 
test between the company and the contractors reached 
Washington through the government commissioners. 
Generals Grant and Sherman were much interested, and 
in 1868 they came West with a party consisting of Maj. 
Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, Gen. August Kantz, Gen. 
Joseph C. Potter, Gen. Frederick Dent, Gen. William S. 
Harney, Gen. Louis C. Hunt, Gen. Adam Slemmer, Sid- 



154 OUR UNITED STATES 

ney Dillon and F. C. Durant, who wired me to meet 
them at Fort Sanders, then the headquarters of General 
Gibbon. The questions in dispute between myself and 
the contractors was then taken up, and Generals Grant 
and Sherman took decided grounds in the matter, sup- 
porting me fully, so that I had no further trouble. 

'Tn my examination of the surveys across the plains 
during 1867, I had with me Gen. John A. Rawlins, Gen- 
eral Grant's chief of staff. General Rawlins's health 
was poor ; he was threatened with consumption, of which 
he afterwards died. General Grant wrote me, suggest- 
ing that in some one of my trips I take him with me so 
as to give him the benefit of the high, dry air, which it 
was a great pleasure to me to do. He came to me with 
his aide, Major Dunn. We had as escort two companies 
of cavalry under Colonel Misner and a company of in- 
fantry to guard the trains. 

"The Indians were very aggressive during the Summer 
of 1867. We were progressing remarkably well with the 
work when the combined attacks of the Indians along our 
whole line, not only on our surveying parties far west 
but on our graders, killing our men and stealing our 
stock, for a time virtually blocked up our work. I was 
pushing west with this party to overcome these deten- 
tions and reached the Red Desert. We were then in an 
unknown country, where we expected to find the divide 
of the continent. We found the basin that Brown had 
discovered and while I was preparing to cross this basin 
I discovered one of my parties, under Mr. Bates, who 
was running a line from Green River east across the 
desert. They had been three days without water, and 
had abandoned the wagons, and were running, by com- 
pass, due east as fast as they possibly could in the hope 
of striking a stream. We discovered them several miles 



ARMY 155 

west of us when we reached the rim of the basin, and we 
first thought they were Indians, but upon watching them 
closely I discovered they were white men and saw they 
were in trouble. We made rapidly toward them and 
found them in a deplorable condition, men nearly 
exhausted, tongues swollen, and so weakened physically 
that they could not make much headway. Our oppor- 
tune finding of them saved some of their lives. 

"On the western rim of the basin, as I left it, I ran into 
the remains of some old wagons and other articles which 
indicated that some military force had tried to cross 
there. Afterwards I learned that it had been Colonel 
Steptoe's expedition to Oregon, and that in crossing the 
Bridges Pass trying to reach northwest, they struck this 
country and were obliged to abandon a portion of their 
outfit. This demonstrated that no knowledge of this de- 
pression was had by any one until we developed it in our 
surveys. We had great difficulty in obtaining water for 
the operation of our road through the basin, being obliged 
to sink artesian wells to a great depth. 

"Upon our return trip, after reaching Salt Lake, we 
followed the Bear River up to its northern bend and on 
to the Snake River by the Blacksmith Fork to what is 
known as Grays Lake and undertook to cross the moun- 
tains from there directly eastward to the South Pass. 
The country was very rough. 

"When I reached the west base of the mountains I saw 
we were going to have trouble in getting our trains over. 
General Rawlins had become quite fatigued in the jour- 
ney, and I was in the habit of taking him and going 
ahead of the party, fixing our camp where he would be 
comfortable for the day, and then bringing up the rest 
of our party, escort and trains. This day I went nearly 
to the top of the first range, and when we raked away 



156 OUR UNITED STATES 

the snow to pitch our tents we found the ground thick 
with the mountain strawberry. We had seen a good 
many grizzly bears near Grays Lake, driven from the 
mountains by the fires, and I left positive instruction for 
no one to go out and follow a grizzly or attempt to shoot 
one. The mountains were so steep and rough I went 
back to bring up the trains, which had to be hauled up 
the mountains with doubling up our mules and putting 
the infantry on prolongs ahead of them. In the after- 
noon, after we had gotten the trains over the roughest 
of the ground, I returned to camp and found Rawlins 
and Dunn away. I asked the cook where they were, and 
he said he thought they had gone to follow a grizzly that 
had passed by the camp a short time before. I had with 
me one of our best guides, Sol Gee. Knowing that if 
they found the bear and shot it there would in all prob- 
ability, be trouble, I took Gee and we followed their trail 
as rapidly as possible. It was but a short time until we 
heard two shots, and in a few minutes afterwards we 
saw Rawlins and Dunn coming towards us with the 
greatest speed. I knew then they had shot at the bear 
and had wounded him, and he was following them. I 
said to Sol Gee, who was a sure shot, that I would drop 
below the trail and attract the attention of the bear as 
he passed ; and if I fired and missed, he must be sure in 
his shot or the bear would get me. 

"As Rawlins and Dunn came up I saw the bear was 
close to them, and I drew the bear's attention, and he 
turned toward me, giving me a very good shot, but I hit 
him a little too far back, but did not stop him, and he 
made for me. Gee waited until he got him face to face 
and then shot and hit him between the eyes and dropped 
him. He was one of the largest grizzlies I ever saw. 
We gave the hide and claws to Rawlins and his friends. 



ARMY 157 

General Rawlins, who was a great stickler in the army 
for obeying orders and who was sometimes very strong 
in his language, turned to me and, in his most emphatic 
language, said we ought to have let the bear get them for 
their disobeying my orders, but that he was not to blame. 
It was Major Dunn, who was crazy to kill a grizzly, and 
he was fool enough to let him try it. 

''When we reached the South Pass there had been gold 
discovered just north in what was known as the 'Miner's 
Delight Mines.' The arrival of such a party with so 
distinguished a person as General Rawlins drew immedi- 
ate attention to us and we were given a lunch and a great 
deal of consideration. Our guide, Sol Gee, when he got 
to the towns was apt to drink too much, and when we 
left after our lunch in the afternoon, I could not find 
him, and I sent Major Dunn to hunt him up. I told 
Dunn under no circumstances to let us get more than 
two miles away before he joined us, because I knew the 
Indians were in the valley of the Sweetwater and had 
been doing considerable depredation. We moved on, 
and I thought no more about Dunn or Gee until we had 
gone eight or ten miles, when I discovered they were not 
with us. It was nearly night and we went into camp. 
I had discovered fresh Indian signs, and I knew they 
were watching us, and it made me very anxious for the 
safety of Dunn and Gee. I took half a dozen of the 
best mounted cavalry with me and went back, supposing 
they were still at the miner's camp. 

"I had not gone more than three or four miles when 
shots came flying at us from the bowlders in the road 
ahead. I thought it was Indians and told Guide Adams, 
who was with me, to seek cover and try to communicate 
with them. When he called. Gee answered, and when 
we rode up to them we found Dunn and Gee behind the 



158 OUR UNITED STATES 

rocks, thinking that we were Indians. Gee had told 
Dunn when he heard us coming that their only salvation 
was to get to cover and fire at us, and that in the night it 
would probably scare the Indians away. I asked Dunn 
why he had not obeyed my orders. He said that when 
he found Gee he was not able to travel, and, of course, 
like a good soldier, he could not leave him. After he 
got Gee sobered up they waited until dark, hoping they 
could make camp without being discovered by the 
Indians. 

"In the Winter of 1867-68 the end of our track was 
at Cheyenne. During that winter there had assembled 
there a very large number of people ; possibly it was the 
greatest gambling place ever established on the plains, 
and it was full of desperate characters. 

"There had been established there by the government 
Fort D. A. Russell, some two or three miles north of the 
railroad track, and there was in command Gen. J. D. 
Stevenson, who had served with me during the civil war. 
In my absence these desperate characters got together, 
held a meeting and jumped the town, refusing to recog- 
nize the authorities we had put over the town or in any 
way comply with our orders. They had commenced rob- 
bing our trainmen and committing other depredations 
that I knew we must stop or lose all control of the rail- 
road forces at the end of the track. I immediately wired 
Gen. Stevenson, calling his attention to the condition of 
affairs and asking him to use his troops to bring about 
order and a recognition of our authority, and while he 
had no legal right in the matter he turned out his troops 
as skirmishers and drove every citizen in the town to a 
mile or so south of the track and then held a parley with 
them. He told them that until they were ready to com- 
ply with the orders and recognize the authority of the 



ARMY 159 

railroad company they should not go back to their prop- 
erty; that really the land belonged to the United States 
and the railway was occupying it under the Government 
charter. This brought them immediately to terms and 
they immediately made peace, and were allowed to come 
back to town and we afterwards had no more trouble 
with them. I recite this only as showing the great aid 
the Government always gave us in building the road. 

''The law of 1862 provided that the Union Pacific and 
Central Pacific should join their tracks at the California 
state line. The law of 1864 allowed the Central Pacific 
to build 150 miles east of the state line, but that was 
changed by the law of 1866, and the two companies 
allowed to build, one east and the other west, until they 
met. The building of 500 miles of road during the Sum- 
mers of 1866 and 1867, hardly twelve months, had 
aroused great interest in the country, and much excite- 
ment in which the Government took a part. We were 
pressed to as speedy a completion of the road as possible, 
although ten years had been allowed by Congress. The 
officers of the Union Pacific had become imbued with 
this spirit, and they urged me to plan to build as much 
road as possible in 1868. 

"The reaching of the summit of the first range of the 
Rocky Mountains, which I named Sherman, in honor 
of my old commander, in 1867, placed us comparatively 
near good timber for ties and bridges, which, after cut- 
ting, could be floated down the mountain streams at some 
points to our crossing, and at others to within twenty- 
five or thirty miles of our work. This afiforded great 
relief to the transportation. 

"We laid the track over the Wasatch Range in the dead 
of Winter on top of snow and ice, and I have seen a 
whole train of cars, track and all slide off the bank and 



160 OUR UNITED STATES 

into the ditch as a result of a thaw and the ice that cov- 
ered the banks. 

"The Central Pacific had made wonderful progress 
coming east, and we abandoned the work from Promon- 
tory to Humboldt Wells, bending all our efforts to meet 
them at Promontory. Between Ogden and Promontory 
each company graded a line, running side by side, and in 
some places one line was right above the other. The 
laborers upon the Central Pacific were Chinamen, while 
ours were Irishmen, and there was much ill feeling be- 
tween them. Our Irishmen were in the habit of firing 
their blasts in the cuts without giving warning to the 
Chinamen on the Central Pacific working right above 
them. From this cause several Chinamen were severely 
hurt. Complaint was made to me by the Central Pacific 
people, and I endeavored to have the contractors bring 
all hostilities to a close, but, for some reason or other, 
they failed to do so. One day the Chinamen, appreciat- 
ing the situation, put in what is called a 'grave' on their 
work, and when the Irishmen right under them were all 
at work let go their blast and buried several of our men. 
This brought about a truce at once. From that time the 
Irish laborers showed due respect for the Chinamen 
and there was no further trouble. 

"On the morning of May 10, 1869, Hon. Leland Stan- 
ford, governor of California and president of the Cen- 
tral Pacific, accompanied by Messrs. Huntington, Hop- 
kins, Crocker, and trainload of California's distinguished 
citizens, arrived from the west. During the forenoon 
Vice-President T. C. Durant and Directors John R. Duff 
and Sidney Dillon and Consulting Engineer Silas A. Sey- 
mour, of the Union Pacific, with other prominent men, 
including a delegation of Mormons from Salt Lake City, 
came in on a train from the East. The National Gov- 



ARMY 161 

ernment was represented by a detachment of 'regulars' 
from Fort Douglass, Utah, accompanied by a band ; and 
600 others, including Chinese, Mexicans, Indians, half- 
breeds, negroes, and laborers, suggesting an air of cos- 
mopolitanism, all gathered around the open space where 
the tracks were to be joined. The Chinese laid the rails 
from the west end and the Irish laborers laid them from 
the east end, until they met and joined. 

''Telegraphic wires were so connected that each blow 
of the descending sledge could be reported instantly to 
all parts of the United States. Corresponding blows 
were struck on the bell of the city hall in San Francisco, 
and with the last blow of the sledge a cannon was fired 
at Fort Point. General Safford presented a spike of 
gold, silver and iron as the offering of the Territory of 
Arizona. Governor Tuttle, of Nevada, presented a 
spike of silver from his State. The connecting tie was 
of California laurel, and California presented the last 
spike of gold in behalf of that State. A silver sledge 
had also been presented for the occasion. A prayer was 
offered. Governor Stanford, of California, made a few 
appropriate remarks on behalf of the Central Pacific and 
the Chief Engineer responded for the Union Pacific. 
Then the telegraphic inquiry from the Omaha office, 
from which the circuit was to be started, was an- 
swered : 

" 'To everybody : Keep quiet. When the last spike is 
driven at Promontory Point we will say "Done." Don't 
break the circuit, but watch for the signals of the blows 
of the hammer. The spike will soon be driven. The 
signal will be three dots for the commencement of the 
blows.' 

"The magnet tapped — one — two — three — then paused 
— 'Done.' The spike was given its first blow by Presi- 



162 OUR UNITED STATES 

dent Stanford and Vice-President Durant followed. 
Neither hit the spike the first time, but hit the rail, and 
were greeted by the lusty cheers of the onlookers, ac- 
companied by the screams of the locomotives and the 
music of the military band. Many other spikes were 
driven on the last rail by some of the distinguished 
persons present, but it was seldom that they first hit the 
spike. The original spike, after being tapped by the 
officials of the companies, was driven home by the chief 
engineers of the two roads. Then the two trains were 
run together, the two locomotives touching at the point 
of junction, and the engineers of the two locomotives 
each broke a bottle of champagne on the other's engine. 
Then it was declared that the connection was made, and 
the Atlantic and Pacific were joined together, never to 
be parted. 

"The wires in every direction were hot with congratu- 
latory telegrams. President Grant and Vice-President 
Colfax were the recipients of especially felicitous mes- 
sages. 

"On the evening of May 8th, in San Francisco, from 
the stages of the theatres and other public places, notice 
was given that the two roads had met and were to be 
welded on the morrow. The celebration there began at 
once and practically lasted through the 10th. The boom- 
ing of cannons and the ringing of bells were united with 
other species of noise-making in which jubilant hu- 
manity finds expression for its feelings on such an oc- 
casion. The buildings in the city were gay with flags 
and bunting. Business was suspended and the longest 
procession that San Francisco had ever seen attested 
the enthusiasm of the people. At night the city was 
brilliant with illuminations. Free railway trains filled 
Sacramento with an unwonted crowd, and the din of 



ARMY 163 

cannon, steam whistles, and bells followed the final 
message. 

"At the eastern terminus in Omaha the firing of a hun- 
dred guns on Capitol Hill, more bells and steam whistles, 
and a grand procession of fire companies, civic societies, 
citizens and visiting delegations echoed the sentiments of 
the Californians. In Chicago a procession of four miles 
in length, a lavish display of decoration in the city and 
on the vessels in the river, and an address by Vice-presi- 
dent Colfax in the evening were the evidences of the 
city's feeling. In New York, by order of the mayor, a 
salute of a hundred guns announced the culmination of 
the great undertaking. In Trinity Church the Te Deum 
was chanted, prayers were offered, and when the services 
were over the chimes rang out 'Old Hundred,' the 'As- 
cension Carol' and national airs. The ringing of bells 
in Independence Hall and the fire stations in Philadel- 
phia produced an unusual concourse of citizens to cele- 
brate the national event. In the other large cities of the 
country, the expressions of public gratification were 
hardly less hearty and demonstrative. Bret Harte was 
inspired to write the celebrated poem of 'What the En- 
gines Said.' The first verse is : 

"What was it the engines said, 
Pilots touching head to head, 
Facing on the single track, 
Half the world behind each back? 
This is what the engines said, 
Unreported and unread. 

"Not forgetting my old commander, General W. T. 
Sherman, who had been such an aid in protecting us in 
the building of the road, in answer to our telegram, sent 
this dispatch: 



164 OUR UNITED STATES 

"Washington, D. C, May 11, 1869 
*'Gen. G. M. Dodge. 

*'In common with millions, I sat yesterday and heard 
the mystic taps of the telegraphic battery announce the 
nailing of the last spike in the great Pacific road. In- 
deed, am I its friend? Yea. Yet, am I to be a part of 
it, for as early as 1854 I was vice-president of the effort 
begun in San Francisco under the contract of Robinson, 
Seymour and Co. As soon as General Thomas makes 
certain preliminary inspections in his new command on 
the Pacific, I will go out, and I need not say, will have 
different facilities from that of 1846, when the only way 
to California was by sailing around Cape Horn, taking 
our ships one hundred and ninety-six days. All honor 
to you, to Durant, to Jack and Dan Casement, to Reed, 
and the thousands of brave fellows who have wrought 
out this glorious problem, spite of changes, storms, and 
even doubts of the incredulous, and all the obstacles you 
have happily surmounted. 

"W. T. Sherman,, General/' 



CHAPTER XI 
The Reconstruction of the South 

At the close of the Civil War, there were in round 
numbers one million thirty-four thousand officers and 
men to be mustered out of military service. In the 
Spring of 1865 this gigantic labor was in progress, and 
was mainly completed by the end of the year. The 
Union volunteers upon receiving their certificate of dis- 
charge, returned joyfully to their homes, proud of their 
victory and hopeful in the prospect of prosperity and 
peace. The regular army at the close of the war, con- 
sisted of six regiments of cavalry, of twelve companies 
each, five regiments of artillery, twelve companies each, 
ten regiments of infantry each of one battalion of ten 
companies and nine regiments of infantry, each of three 
battalions of eight companies, a total including all 
branches of four hundred and forty-eight companies. 
In 1866 the regular army numbered thirty-eight thou- 
sand five hundred and forty men, of which two regi- 
ments of cavalry and four regiments of infantry were 
composed of colored men. 

Very different were the conditions of the soldiers of 
the Confederacy, a disbanded army of disheartened and 
impoverished men, who had struggled against federal 
authority until all hope of a successful resistance had 
ceased, and utterly exhausted, had laid down their arms 
only because there was no longer any power to use them. 

Under the generous parole of General Grant they now 

165 



166 OUR UNITED STATES 

returned to their homes, laid waste and desolate by the 
terrible havoc of war. Their farms were overgrown 
with weeds, their plantations stripped and barren, their 
industries destroyed and all business paralyzed by the 
calamities that followed the wake of fighting armies. 

Shorn of private wealth, bankrupt in public finances, 
what had been the Southern Confederacy, now existed 
as States without commercial connections, without na- 
tional or international relations, without organized gov- 
ernment and in a restless, if not dangerous, condition of 
complete anarchy. In 1863 President Lincoln had pro- 
claimed that as soon as one-tenth of the voters in any 
of the seceded States would swear to abide by the Con- 
stitution and the emancipation laws, they might organize 
state governments; during the following two years 
Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee formed state gov- 
ernments under these conditions. Upon the death of 
Lincoln, to President Johnson fell the difficult task of 
enforcing existing national laws and establishing as far 
as his limited powers permitted a system of government 
such as might be provided for by existing national 
statutes. Exercising his powers as commander-in-chief 
of a victorious army he appointed provisional governors 
over the revolted States, whose powers were perforce 
limited to military authority. These officials were regu- 
larly commissioned and their compensation was paid, as 
the Secretary of War states, "from the appropriation 
for army contingencies because the duties performed by 
these parties were regarded as of a temporary character, 
ancillary to the withdrawal of military force. The dis- 
bandment of armies, and the reduction of military ex- 
penditure, by provisional organizations for the protection 
of civil rights, the preservation of peace, and to take the 
place of armed force in the respective States." 



ARMY 167 

Through the medium of these provisional governors 
President Johnson endeavored to organize state govern- 
ments. The war hardly closed before the people in these 
insurrectionary States came forward and haughtily 
claimed as a right, the privilege of participating at once 
in that government which they had for four years been 
fighting to overthrow. Allowed and encouraged by the 
Executive to organize State governments, they at once 
placed in power leading rebels, unrepentant and un- 
pardoned. 

Upon the re-assembling of Congress in December, im- 
mediate steps were taken to define the legal status of the 
"states" lately in revolt and this difficult and perplexing 
problem became the storm centre of national legislation. 

While the aftermath of political disorganization en- 
gaged the bitter activities of North and South, a still 
more grave and seemingly hopeless problem had pre- 
sented itself from the inception of hostilities and cul- 
minated at the close of the war in some four million 
negroes, men, women and children, wandering home- 
less, flocking to the cities, and for the most part penni- 
less, in the possession of new found freedom, the use for 
which they were in no wise prepared. During the suc- 
cessive operations of the Rebellion the problems of car- 
ing for the hords of negroes and poor whites who had 
fled to protection within the Union lines had greatly 
taxed the energies and resource of the commanding gen- 
erals. 

Previous to the Emancipation Proclamation, General 
B. F. Butler's reply to the request from a southern of- 
ficer to restore to their owners three escaped slaves, had 
to a large extent solved a delicate situation. In the in- 
terview May 23rd, 1861, he said to the agent, "The ques- 
tion is simply whether they shall be used for or against 



168 OUR UNITED STATES 

the Government of the United States. I shall hold these 
negroes as contraband of war." 

Fleeing to the Union lines in increasing numbers, the 
men, at the discretion of the Union commanders were 
given employment in the trenches or as teamsters or en- 
listed as soldiers, and the women earned their subsistence 
by washing, mending the soldiers' clothes, marketing, 
etc. Army rations were served to the children and to 
those too feeble to work, but, nevertheless, extreme desti- 
tution overtook whole villages of negroes, the problem 
becoming more and more grave as time elapsed. 

Early in the progress of the war. Brigadier General 
Rufus Saxton, by his authority as local military gover- 
nor, had put in operation a successful plan in June, 1862, 
by establishing market houses at Hilton Head and Beau- 
fort, South Carolina, where the produce of the planta- 
tions worked by settlements of negroes on several of the 
Sea Islands was profitably disposed of. 

General Grant introduced another plan of relief by 
which large crops of neglected cotton and corn were har- 
vested, sent north for sale and the proceeds turned over 
to the government. For this labor the negroes received 
wages, clothing and food, under the direction of Colonel 
Eaton who was appointed by General Grant as Chief of 
Negro Afifairs. *'Home Colonies" were established on 
abandoned lands and other expedients for relief were 
put in operation with more or less success. Charitable 
Organizations of the north were early in the field to es- 
tablish schools and otherwise render assistance to the 
suffering negroes. 

In January 1863, Congressman Thomas D. Eliot, of 
Massachusetts, introduced a bill in Congress to establish 
a Bureau of Emancipation. This bill was to create a 
commissioner of Freedman's Affairs with powers of gen- 



ARMY 169 

eral superintendence and management of matters and 
laws connected with the freedmen — all military and civil 
officers having to do with freedmen's affairs were to be 
governed by him — and he was to protect the negroes in 
their civil rights, allow them to occupy and cultivate 
abandoned lands, to see that they received compensa- 
tion for labour in the interest of others, and as far as 
possible to settle all disputes and controversies. The 
commissioner was to appoint assistant commissioners 
who would carry out the operation of the Bureau and 
the commissioner himself was to act under the super- 
vision and direction of the Secretary of War. 

Although this bill occasioned a lively debate in Con- 
gress and hot opposition, a new draft with slight changes 
passed both houses the following session ; was signed 
by President Lincoln, March 3, 1865, and the Bureau of 
Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands became an 
established law. General O. O, Howard, a young officer 
of thirty-four, whose brilliant war record had won him 
laurels and hosts of friends, was summoned immediately 
to Washington and tendered the important position of 
Commissioner of this new-formed Bureau. General 
Howard asked Mr. Stanton for a few days in which to 
consider such an important appointment; on the 12th 
of May he called on the Secretary and pronounced him- 
self as ready to assume the responsibilities of this newly 
created office. 

"He briefly expressed his satisfaction," writes General 
Howard, "and sent for the papers, chiefly letters from 
correspondents, widely separated, and reports, official 
and unofficial, touching upon matters which pertained to 
refugees and freedmen. The clerk in charge brought 
in a large, oblong, bushel basket heaped with letters, 
and documents. Mr. Stanton, with both hands holding 



170 OUR UNITED STATES 

the handles at each end, took the basket and extended it 
to me and with a smile said : 'Here, general, here's your 
Bureau !' " 

The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned 
Lands was a temporary expedient designed solely to tide 
over a crisis in Federal affairs, until such time as the 
negro should be in a position to assume the responsibili- 
ties of his own living and betterment. Four million souls 
were to be directed, protected and materially assisted at 
the discretion of the commissioner and General Howard 
lost no time in naming his military assistants. Among 
those were Colonel Orlando Brown, Eliphalet Whittlesey, 
T. W. Osbom, Samuel Thomas, General Clinton, B. 
Fisk, General J. W. Sprague, and Chaplain Conway. 
These officers were designated to their several districts 
in the south. Colonel John Eaton was designated for the 
District of Columbia. At the home office. General W. 
E. Strong was appointed Inspector General for the whole 
field. Colonel J. S. Fullerton, Adjutant General, Lieuten- 
ant Colonel Geo. W. Ballock, Chief Disbursing Officer 
and head of the Subsistence Distribution. Captain Sam- 
uel L. Taggart, Assistant Adjutant General, Major 
William Towler, Assistant Adjutant General, Captain J. 
M. Brown, Assistant Quartermaster and Surgeon C. W. 
Horner, Chief Medical Officer. 

General Howard's personal staff consisted of Major 
H. M. Stinson, Captain T. W. Gilbreth, Captain A. S. 
Cole and Lieutenant J. A. Sladen. 

With this force and subordinate officers amounting to 
nearly 2,000 officers, agents and other employes, the 
Bureau inaugurated a remarkable framework of author- 
ity upon which the supervision and management of all 
subjects relating to refugees and freedmen were system- 
atically and conscientiously handled. Northern benevo- 



ARMY 171 

lent societies became the friends and allies of this depart- 
ment and during the year 1866 more than one hundred 
and fifty thousand freedmen and their children regularly 
attended the schools established by the Bureau. Desti- 
tute persons numbering thousands were helped to procure 
situations and others put to work on abandoned lands 
under the control of the Bureau. 

From its inception, President Johnson was not in har- 
mony with the Freedmen's Bureau, and the strained rela- 
tions between the Secretary of War and the President 
dated from this event. Even more strained were the 
conditions existing between Congress and the President 
and the act dated March 2, 1867, for the military gov- 
ernment of the "rebel States," the subsequent act of 
March 23, 1867, prescribing the conditions of organiza- 
tion of State governments, previous to their restoration 
to the Union, and the supplementary act of July 19, 1867, 
were all passed over the President's veto. 

"The terrible oppression of the Southern people em- 
bodied in those acts of Congress," writes General Scho- 
field, "has hardly been appreciated by even the most 
enlightened and conservative people of the North. Only 
those who actually suffered the baneful effects of the 
unrestrained working of those laws can ever realize their 
full enormity. The radical Congress was not content 
to impose upon the Southern States impartial suffrage 
to whites and blacks alike. They were not content even 
to disfranchise the leading rebels, according to the terms 
of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Even 
those would not be sufficient to put the Southern whites 
under the domination of their former slaves and of 
adventurers from the North, and thus secure the radical 
supremacy in the reconstructed States. Hence another 
and an enormous stride was taken, with the purpose of 



172 OUR UNITED STATES 

putting those States under what became known as 'car- 
pet-bag' governments, so offensive as to be nearly intol- 
erable even to their authors. That stride consisted in 
imposing the so-called *iron-clad oath' upon all officers, 
of whatever grade or character, in all the former Con- 
federate States. That oath excluded from office not only 
all who had in any way taken active part in the rebellion, 
but even the most constant Union men of the South, who 
had remained at home during the war; for not one of 
them had escaped 'giving aid or comfort' in some way 
to those engaged in the rebellion." 

The Act of March 2, 1867, provided for five military 
districts which were organized with General Schofield 
in command of Virginia ; General Sickles for North and 
South Carolina; General George H. Thomas for Georgia, 
Florida and Alabama ; General Ord for Mississippi and 
Arkansas ; General Sheridan for Louisiana and Texas. 
Upon these officers, their assistants and successors, de- 
volved duties of the most delicate and trying nature. 
Partisan hatred, fanned by the discordance and oppres- 
sion of Congress, resulted in a wide range of compli- 
cated and perplexing questions which taxed the executive 
and judicial authority of the military to the uttermost. 
Of the five generals appointed to the military districts, 
Sheridan and Pope were in favor of strong measures 
in dealing with the South. General Sickles showed a 
tendency to follow their example — Schofield and Ord, 
on the other hand, were for moderate and less exacting 
measures, and, though military officers are not supposed 
to have political opinions, it was nevertheless impossible 
that the great issues of the day should not direct the 
conduct and judgment of these commanders. "In order 
to sustain their honourable reputations a degree of tact 
and discretion in civil affairs was essential that far 



ARMY 173 

exceeded anything that had been required of them be- 
fore." 

It was not within the possibiHty of human nature that 
the 19,320 Union soldiers distributed among 134 posts 
in the ten southern states should meet the favor and 
approval of the whites. Though submission was a 
necessity, resentment and indignation were constantly 
in evidence, and, as the military government was not one 
of form alone, but reached the commonest concerns of 
life, the conflict of authority, denunciation and reproach 
was the prescribed attitude assumed toward the military. 

One of the first duties of these officers was the modi- 
fication of arbitrary measures towards the negroes, 
recently enacted by the states, whipping and maiming, 
imprisonment for debt were prohibited, and the right 
of the negro to offer testimony in a court of justice, 
overturned the established order of things. 

The most harassing question that had to be dealt with 
by the generals on assuming their commands was that 
of their relation to the officers of the existing state gov- 
ernments. In pursuance of their express power to main- 
tain order, the generals were, however, obliged to assume 
that a control over the personnel of the state administra- 
tion was implied. Removals from office, accordingly, 
were made from the beginning on grounds of inefficiency. 
As removals did not abolish the offices, but were fol- 
lowed by appointments, military headquarters tended to 
become the centre of a keen struggle for place and patron- 
age. The mutual recriminations of the parties to such 
struggles were echoed throughout the land and contrib- 
uted one more element to the embarrassment of the com- 
manders. The manner of filling vacancies caused by 
removal or otherwise also gave rise to serious discussion. 
Under military law there seemed no doubt that an offi- 



174 OUR UNITED STATES 

cer or soldier could be detailed by the commander to 
perform the duties of any position. This method was 
employed in many cases, but the supply of troops was 
entirely inadequate to the demand for non-military ser- 
vices and resort had to be made to civilians. 

**So far as the criminal law was concerned, the fail- 
ures of justice which had been alleged as justifying the 
establishment of military government were attributed to 
the administration rather than the content of the law. 
The military commissions which were constituted with 
various degrees of system and permanency by the district 
commanders served very effectively to supplement the 
regular judiciary in the application of the ordinary state 
law. No extensive modifications of the law itself, there- 
fore, were considered necessary. When policemen or 
sheriffs failed to arrest suspected or notorious offenders, 
the troops did the work; when district attorneys failed 
to prosecute vigorously, or judges to hold or adequately 
to punish offenders, the latter were taken into mili- 
tary custody; when juries failed to convict, they were 
supplemented by the military courts. 

"There was no room for doubt that the Southern 
states were all in a condition of economic demoraliza- 
tion. As usual under such circumstances, the com- 
plaints of debtors, based generally on real hardship were 
loud and widespread. Not in the Carolinas alone, but 
all through the South, the demand for stay laws was 
heard. It would hardly have been surprising if all the 
district commanders, in the plentitude of their powers 
and the benevolence of their hearts, had sought to bring 
prompt relief by decreeing new tables. General Sickles, 
after describing the distress due to crop failure and debt, 
and the 'general disposition shown by creditors to en- 
force upon an impoverished people the immediate col- 



ARMY 175 

lection of all claims/ declared that 'to suffer all this to 
go on without restraint or remedy is to sacrifice the 
general good.' Accordingly, he announced the follow- 
ing regulations, among others, to remain in force until 
the reconstructed governments should be established. 
Imprisonment for debt was prohibited. The institution 
or continuance of suits, or the execution of judgments, 
for the payment of money on causes of action arising 
between December 19, 1860, and May 15, 1865, was for- 
bidden. The sale of property upon execution for liabili- 
ties contracted before December 19, 1860, or by foreclo- 
sure of mortgage was suspended for one year. Advances 
of capital, required 'for the purpose of aiding the agri- 
cultural pursuits of the people,' were assured of protec- 
tion by the most efficient remedies contained in existing 
law; and wages of agricultural labour were made a lien 
on the crop. A homestead exemption not to be waived, 
was established for any defendant having a family de- 
pendent upon his labour. The currency of the United 
States was ordered to be recognized as legal tender. 
Property of an absent debtor was exempted from attach- 
ment by the usual process ; and the demand for bail in 
suits brought to recover ordinary debts, 'known as actions 
excontractu,' was forbidden. 

"These sweeping enactments were followed by others 
of a similar character. Having prohibited the manu- 
facture and regulated the sale of whiskey within the dis- 
trict, General Sickles further decreed that no action 
should be entertained in any court for the enforcement 
of contracts made for the manufacture, sale, transpor- 
tation, storage or insurance of intoxicating liquors. Hav- 
ing prohibited discrimination in public conveyances be- 
tween citizens 'because of color or caste,' he gave to any 
one injured by such discrimination a right of action for 



176 OVR UNITED STATES 

damages. Finally, he abolished distress for rent, and 
ordered that the crops should be subject to a first lien 
for labor and second lien for rent of the land." 

Thus, in conjunction with the commissioners of the 
Freedmen's Bureau, a wide range of duties was per- 
formed by the Army — assistance rendered to the needy, 
schools organized, orphan asylums established, medical 
aid administered, the rights of citizens defended, dis- 
turbances investigated, besides attention to innumerable 
lesser duties devolving upon such authority under the 
trying and almost unsupportable conditions in which the 
South found itself. 

Manifold as were these duties of the district com- 
manders, they were secondary to the main instructions 
under which they had been appointed, which emphasized 
the necessity of rendering "adequate protection to life 
and property" and the establishment of a new political 
organization according to the methods laid down in the 
acts of Congress. As a rule the Generals in command 
of the military districts of the South did not sympathize 
with the radical measures of Congress and they endeav- 
ored to execute the trying duties imposed upon them 
with kindness, firmness and absolute impartiality, there- 
by occasioning the least possible suffering and incon- 
venience. 

In their immediate duties toward the formation of 
State Governments and the registering of legal voters, 
they endeavored as far as possible to conciliate rather 
than antagonize those loyal, well-intentioned men whose 
intellectual abilities and personal attainments were at 
every turn outraged by the intolerable conditions of 
negro and "carpet-bag" rule. Nevertheless, it was neces- 
sary to ignore partisan consideration, to execute the laws 
faithfully without reference to persons and to protect 



ARMY 177 

the rights and liberties of all individuals whatever their 
race or color. 

During the period of rehabiHtation, disorder and insur- 
rection required the constant presence of troops who 
were not infrequently called upon for prompt and vigor- 
ous action. Missouri was the scene of violence and dis- 
order in 1866 — when the repeated outrages committed 
upon the negroes by lawless idlers, whose repeated acts 
of brigandage had put the community in a state of terror, 
required the summary action of the military authorities, 
who pursued and eventually drove the marauders out of 
the state. 

On the 16th of April the same year, Norfolk, Virginia, 
was the scene of a bloody riot between discharged colored 
soldiers of the Union Army who had purchased the arms 
they had carried during the war and certain Confederate 
soldiers who had kept their organization and held bitter 
hatred toward the late bondmen. The negroes paraded 
the streets on that day in honor of the passage of the 
civil rights bill with the result that they were fired upon 
by the whites, which continued during the night, a num- 
ber of men being killed and open threats made by large 
bodies of men to exterminate the negroes. Captain 
Stanhope, Twelfth Infantry, kept his men constantly on 
duty to disperse the rioters and when the outlook be- 
came more alarming, he sent for reinforcements from 
Fortress Monroe, which quelled the disturbance and 
restored order. 

New Orleans, Mobile, Memphis, Franklin, were also 
the scene of bitter class hatred resulting in the burning 
of negro school houses, churches and dwellings, and the 
shooting, maltreating and killing of all who resisted. 
At Memphis, General Stoneman assumed military con- 
trol, suspended the civil power, and stationed United 



178 OUR UNITED STATES 

States troops at various points throughout the city. 
These men were given strict orders to break up the small- 
est assemblages of rioters and were kept constantly on 
duty for forty-eight hours, when they were relieved 
by re-enforcements from Nashville. 

In September, 1867, the elections at Nashville and 
Memphis were the scene of another outburst of popular 
outrage, which was quieted by the presence of Federal 
troops. 

While the States were under military control, it de- 
volved upon the military officers to preserve peace at 
all times, with or without the concurrence of civil authori- 
ties. Upon the passage of the act of Congress, June 25, 
1868, which readmitted the Southern States and restored 
them to the legal status which existed prior to secession, 
military authority as laid down in the reconstruction acts 
ceased to exist and commanding officers of posts or de- 
tachments were forbidden to interfere in civil affairs, 
unless upon proper application by civil authorities to 
preserve the peace. 

However pleasing such a state of affairs might be to 
the Southern whites in general, eight years of intense 
partisan feeling had developed a condition of lawlessness 
that soon developed into serious menace to public safety. 

Congress, having assumed the formal reconstruction 
of the Southern States, enfranchised the negro, and 
thereby temporarily weakened the political power of the 
whites. Secret organizations of rebellious white men 
banded themselves together and gradually formed the 
nucleus of a masked army whose oaths of perpetual 
secrecy with the penalty of death attached to its viola- 
tion, the obligation of implicit obedience to the chief or 
authority of the "inner circle" made these societies for- 
midable and dangerous. 



ARMY 179 

Major-General Thomas, in command of the Depart- 
ment of the Cumberland in his report, dated October 1, 
1868, makes first official mention of this masked army of 
desperadoes : 

"Accounts of it from many sources were received at 
these headquarters. The newspapers recognized its 
existence by publishing articles on the subject, either 
denunciatory or with an attempt to treat its proceedings 
as harmless jokes, according to the political opinions of 
their editors. The assistant commissioner of the Bureau 
of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands for 
Tennessee in his reports, copies of which were furnished 
me, narrated many of the proceedings of the organiza- 
tion, whose acts were shown to be of a lawless and dia- 
bolical nature. Organized companies of men, mounted 
and armed, horses and riders being disguised, patrolled 
the country, making demonstrations calculated to frighten 
quiet citizens, and in many instances abused and outraged 
them, especially that class of colored people who by their 
energy, industry, and good conduct are most prominent. 

"I did not think it necessary to take any action on the 
information furnished until the month of March, when 
a member of the legislature of Tennessee sent me a writ- 
ten statement of the doings of this organization, saying 
it carried terror and dismay throughout the country; 
that the civil authorities were powerless and appeared 
terror struck; that his own life was threatened, and asked 
if something could not be done by the General Govern- 
ment to protect the community; if not, there was danger 
of a bloody collision." 

"From the numerous cases of murder and outrage per- 
petrated upon the negroes and those who befriended them 
during the days of the reconstruction," writes General 
Howard, "which were reported to my officers and were 



180 OVR UNITED STATES 

by them recorded with the different circumstances attend- 
ing them, it is now clear that the main object from first 
to last was somehow to regain and maintain over the 
negro that ascendency which slavery gave, and which 
was being lost by emancipation, education, and suffrage. 
"Our work of establishing schools went steadily on," 
continues the General. "Early in 1868, however, was the 
first appearance in my Bureau school reports of an offen- 
sive secret organization. It was from Charlestown, W. 
Va. Our workers received a note from the 'Ku-Klux- 
Klan.' Not a white family there after that could be 
found willing to board the excellent lady teachers. At 
Frostburg, a male teacher was threatened with violence. 
The Klan sent him notes ordering him to depart. Loyal 
West Virginians, however, stood by him and he did not 
go. In Maryland, also, one teacher was warned and 
forced to leave. The Klan signed their rough document 
which was placed in his hand, *Ku-Klux-Klan.' The face 
of the envelope was covered with scrawls ; among these 
were the words : 'Death ! Death !' By a similar method 
a teacher at Hawkinsville, Ga. (a coloured man) was 
dealt with by menace and afterwards seriously wounded. 
The Georgia superintendent wrote that for the last three 
months, April, May and June, 1868, there had been more 
bitterness exhibited toward all men engaged in the work 
of education than ever before ; and there were few but 
had received threats, both anonymous and open. Sev- 
eral freedmen had abandoned their fields from fear. The 
cry from Alabama was even more alarming. People 
from a distance could not comprehend the feeling; 
school houses were burned and those left standing were 
in danger ; teachers were hated and maltreated, two being 
driven from their work. 'The truth is,' they cried, 'we 
are in the midst of a reign of terror.' But Louisiana ex- 



ARMY 181 

ceeded: Miss Jordan's school at Gretna was entered 
by ruffians ; the walls of her room covered with obscene 
pictures and language, and threats against the teacher 
posted ; she was insulted on the ferry and in the streets, 
and even annoyed in such a small way as to be required 
to pay twice as much ferriage as the teachers in the white 
schools. In Markville, the Ku-Klux-Klan made open 
demonstrations, but always by night. They posted their 
documents around the town, so terrifying the colored 
people that they did not dare leave their homes after 
dark. In Texas, both at Georgetown and Circleville, the 
schools were similarly closed out ; at the latter place the 
school edifice was burned to the ground." 

Cruelties were not limited to the teachers of negroes, 
but included white men in political office. One William 
Cooper, an agent of the Freedman's Bureau, was shot 
in his own house. The lifeless bodies of negroes were 
found dangling from trees in front of their cabin doors. 
It was estimated by General Forest that no less than 
40,000 men were banded together in Tennessee alone. 
The number of murders, mutilations and outrages perpe- 
trated by these outlaws is unbelievable. The records of 
the War Department show that in Alabama alone the 
total number of proven cases of individual violence was 
371, of which 33 were murders in the year 1868-69. In 
Mississippi 31 murders were committed within the same 

period. 

A riot occurring in Unionville, S. C, January 12, 1871, 
United States troops were sent to quiet the disturbance, 
prior to which the Ku-Klux-Klan, numbering 400 to 800, 
stormed the jail, took out and shot some of the prisoners, 
raided the county treasury and tore up the railway tracks 
to obstruct the arrival of the troops. 

The outcome of the persistent outrages to the negroes 



182 OUR UNITED STATES 

and those in sympathy with them and the constant call 
for Federal aid by the civil authorities resulted in the 
Force Act passed by Congress in 1871 which empowered 
the President to employ the army, navy and militia for 
the suppression of organizations designed to intimidate 
the negro and deprive him of the right to vote unmo- 
lested and in security. It declared that such organisa- 
tions appearing with arms constituted rebellion against 
the United States, and the President was empowered 
"when in his judgment the public safety shall require it, 
to suspend the privilege of habeas corpus, to the end that 
such rebellion may be overthrown." (Act April 20, 
1871, Sec. 4.) United States marshals were authorized 
to supervise State registrations and elections with the 
aid of United States military and naval forces. 

The 3rd of May, 1871, President Grant issued a procla- 
mation urging all citizens of the land to suppress all such 
armed combinations and upon their failure to do so the 
National Government would put forth all its energies for 
the protection of its citizens of every race and color in 
order to restore peace throughout the entire country. 

A second proclamation was issued October 12th, nam- 
ing numerous counties where combinations were so pow- 
erful as to be able to defy the local authorities, enjoining 
upon his people "to retire peaceably to their homes within 
five days of the date hereof, and to deliver, either to the 
marshal of the United States for the district of South 
Carolina, or to any of his deputies, or to any military offi- 
cer of the United States within said counties, all arms, 
ammunition, uniforms, disguises, and other means and 
implements used, kept, possessed, or controlled by them 
for carrying out the unlawful purposes for which the 
combinations and conspiracies are organized." 

This second proclamation having no better results than 



ARMY 183 

the first, Grant proceeded to more drastic measures, 
suspended the writ of habeas corpus — in the counties 
named in his proclamation, hurried Federal troops to 
the scene, scattered these in small detachments at the 
principal points of danger and summarily arrested, tried, 
and if convicted, fined or imprisoned large numbers of 
the perpetrators of the insurrectionary movement. 

The New Orleans riots in the years 1871-72 were the 
outcome of strong political antagonisms centering on the 
contest between the supporters and opponents of Gover- 
nor H. C. Warmouth. The Republican convention was 
to be held in the custom-house the 9th of August, 1871. 
On the morning of that date an armed mob of from 3,000 
to 5,000 whites and blacks collected about the custom- 
house and became so threatening in their demonstrations 
that General Emory, the department commander, ordered 
three companies of infantry, with two Gatling guns to 
push through the infuriated mob, station themselves at 
the custom-house and there preserve the peace under all 
contingencies. The effect of this prompt action of only 
one hundred and fifty soldiers in the uniform of author- 
ity resulted in dispersing the mob. 

Upon the opening of the legislature the following Janu- 
ary rival factions within and without the capitol building 
succeeded in precipitating a general condition of disor- 
derly revolt. They defied the Governor's proclamation 
in which he declared his intention of taking possession 
of the Capitol. General Emory was again called upon 
to prevent bloodshed by the interposition of Federal 
troops. 

General Grant's second term was a continuation of the 
problems which had perplexed the first. The troubles in 
Louisiana reached their height in 1874 in the disputed 
election of Governor Kellogg, which culminated in the 



184 OUR UNITED STATES 

outrageous murder of six objectionable officials at Con- 
shatta, in the Red River Parish. These white men were 
set upon by a mob, bound together in twos, marched to a 
field beyond the parish line, killed in cold blood, and 
their bodies buried where they fell. President Grant 
immediately took steps to send military assistance to the 
civil authorities. Meanwhile the defeated candidate for 
Lieutenant Governor in 1872, Mr. D. B. Penn, issued a 
proclamation in which he claimed to be the lawful execu- 
tive and calling upon the militia of the state "to arm 
and assemble under their respective officers for the pur- 
pose of driving the usurpers from power." 

Between 2,000 and 3,000 armed men assembled in 
response to Penn's order. Barricades were erected in 
the streets of New Orleans. About 500 Metropolitan 
police with several pieces of artillery under General 
James Longstreet, the commander of militia under Gov- 
ernor Kellogg, met the opposing forces and fire was 
opened on both sides with the result that 32 men were 
killed and 48 severely wounded. By nightfall the same 
day 10,000 men were assembled and took possession of the 
city. Penn was formally inducted into office. United 
States troops were speedily despatched to New Orleans. 
General Emory demanded the immediate surrender of all 
State property and the disbanding of the insurgents. 
This was complied with under protest. Lieutenant Col. 
John R. Brooke was appointed "to command the city of 
New Orleans until such time as the State and city gov- 
ernments can be recognized ; to take possession of the 
arms and other State property, and to occupy the State 
house, arsenal, and other State buildings until further 
orders." The Kellogg government was reinstated and 
troops secured quiet at the polls in the November 
elections. Nevertheless, intense excitement prevailed 



ARMY 185 

throughout the state. The Republicans were again in 
power in spite of the vehement protest of the Democrats 
who claimed victory. In anticipation of trouble upon 
the convening of the legislature in January, 1875, Presi- 
dent Grant appointed General Sheridan in command of 
New Orleans. Precautionary measures resulted in the 
stationing of troops around the State house and the leg- 
islature assembled on the morning of January 4th. The 
leaders of the opposition, lawfully or unlawfully pro- 
ceeded to take control. 

"One Wiltz jumped on the platform, seized the speak- 
er's chair and gavel, and declared himself speaker. On 
motions from the floor, and without ballots, he in the 
same way declared other gentlemen elected secretary and 
sergeant-at-arms, and having directed the latter to appoint 
assistants, a hundred or more men scattered about the 
hall, suddenly opened their coats, displaying badges on 
which was inscribed 'assistant sergeant-at-arms,' and the 
minority were in possession of the legislature. The ex- 
citement was intense ; knives and pistols were drawn ; 
several fisticuffs occurred ; the shooting was so deafening 
that little could be heard." 

"In all this turmoil," says General Sheridan in his 
despatch to Secretary Belknap, January 8, 1875, "in which 
bloodshed was imminent, the military posse behaved with 
great discretion. When Mr. Wiltz, the usurping speaker 
of the house, called for troops to prevent bloodshed, 
they were given him. When the governor of the State 
called for a posse for the same purpose and to enforce 
the law, it was furnished also. Had this not been done 
it is my firm belief that scenes of bloodshed would have 
ensued." 

In a telegram to Secretary Belknap, dated New Or- 
leans, January 4, 1875, General Sheridan says: 



186 OUR UNITED STATES 

"It is with deep regret that I have to announce to you 
the existence in this State of a spirit of defiance to all 
lawful authority and an insecurity of life which is hardly 
realized by the General Government or the country at 
large. The lives of citizens have become so jeopardized 
that unless something is done to give protection to the 
people all security usually afforded by law will be over- 
ridden. Defiance to the laws and the murder of indi- 
viduals seems to be looked upon by the community here 
from a standpoint which gives impunity to all who 
choose to indulge in either, and the civil government 
appears powerless to punish or even arrest. I have to- 
night assumed control over the Department of the Gulf." 

A second telegram, dated January 5, says in part: 

"I will preserve the peace, which it is not to do with 
the naval and military forces in and about the city, and 
if Congress will declare the White Leagues, and other 
similar organizations, white or black, banditti, I will 
relieve it from the necessity of any special legislation for 
the preservation of peace and equality of rights in the 
States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and the 
Executive from much of the trouble had in this section 
of the country"; to which Secretary Belknap replied: 

"Your telegrams all received. The, President and all 
of us have full confidence and thoroughly approve your 
course." 

General Sheridan's determined attitude to regard all 
insurgents and disturbers of the peace "as banditti" and 
to deal with them as such, brought forth threats against 
his life and he was in imminent danger of assassination 
and the extermination of the Federal troops was freely 
discussed ; nevertheless, it suppressed further public dem- 
onstrations by the rioters. Congress, meanwhile, sent 
committees to thoroughly investigate the political situ- 



ARMY 187 

ation with the result that Kellogg was recognized as the 
legal governor of Louisiana. 

Thus briefly and imperfectly are outlined the varied 
and manifold duties performed by the army in the South 
alone, a comparatively small area of the whole United 
States during the decade subsequent to the Civil War. 



CHAPTER XII 
Alaska 

The acquisition of Alaska was consummated June 20, 
1867, through the exertions of Baron Stoekl, Russian 
minister to the United States, and Mr. Seward, Secre- 
tary of State. 

An area comprising 577,390 square miles, including 
the Aleutian archipelago, was thus added to the terri- 
tory of the United States. The price paid for this vast 
acquisition was seven million two hundred thousand dol- 
lars, or about two cents an acre. With the possession of 
this new domain the United States flag was carried to 
within three hundred miles of the Siberian coast and 
to within six hundred miles of the coast of Japan. Brig- 
adier-General Lovell H. Rousseau, U. S. A., was desig- 
nated by President Johnson as special commissioner to 
receive from Captain Alexis Petchouroff, the commis- 
sioner of the Czar, the formal transfer of sovereignty. 

The two commissioners met in New York, proceeded 
by way of Panama to San Francisco and were trans- 
ported to Sitka on board the U. S. S. Ossipee, Captain 
Emmons commanding; reaching New Archangel, Octo- 
ber 18, 1867. At half after three that same afternoon, 
in the presence of both American and Russian troops, 
amid the firing of artillery salutes, the Russian flag was 
lowered and that of the United States raised upon the 
flagstaff and the formal transfer of the country and 

188 



ARMY 189 

outlying stations was consummated. The principal sta- 
tions thus acquired were Fort Kenai, on the Kenai Penin- 
sula, Kadiak, on Kadiak Island; Sitka, on Baranoy 
Island, and Fort Wrangell, near the mouth of the Stikine 
River. 

In the report of the committee on foreign affairs, pub- 
lished May 18, 1868, are enumerated the motives which 
made the transfer of the Russian America desirable to 
the interests of the United States. 

"They were, first, the laudable desire of citizens of the 
Pacific coast to share in the prolific fisheries of the 
oceans, seas, bays, and rivers of the western world; the 
refusal of Russia to renew the charter of the Russian 
American Fur Company in 1866 ; the friendship of Rus- 
sia for the United States; the necessity of preventing 
the transfer, by any possible chance, of the northwest 
coast of America to an unfriendly power; the creation 
of new industrial interests of our empire on the sea and 
land ; and, finally, to facilitate and secure the advantages 
of an unlimited American commerce with the friendly 
powers of Japan and China." 

Prior to our possession the Russo- American Fur Com- 
pany held undisputed sway over Alaska. This company 
controlled all coastwise trade, had leased certain advan- 
tageous rights to the Hudson Bay Company and had 
used every effort to prevent the Russian government 
from learning the value of their possession. The search 
for minerals was prevented and only information con- 
nected with the fur trade was permitted to be published. 
Upon our coming into possession of the territory, the 
entire commercial interest of the country consisted of 
its fisheries along the coast, and the trade in peltries 
brought in to the various stations, by the natives from 
the interior. This interior was considered a valueless 



190 OUR UNITED STATES 

wilderness inhabited by lawless tribes of Indians. Few 
citizens of the United States appreciated the fact that 
we had acquired one of the great rivers of the world, 
rising in the interior of the Northwest and flowing a dis- 
tance of two thousand miles into the sea. The resources 
of the Yukon and its tributaries, the tribes of Indians 
inhabiting its banks were neither heeded nor dreamed of. 

In 1842, Lieutenant Zagoskin, of the Russian Navy, 
had visited the region of the Yukon and travelled from 
the mouth of the river to a point above Nulato, covering 
a distance of about six hundred miles. 

The enterprise of the Western Union Telegraph Com- 
pany in its desire to connect by telegraph and cable the 
two hemispheres at Behring Strait, had employed a large 
force of explorers in locating an overland route on both 
sides of the Pacific and in connection with this enter- 
prise had acquired much valuable information as to the 
resources of Alaska. Messrs. Ketchum and Labarge of 
the telegraph company journeyed from the western coast 
of Fort Yukon in 1866. The following Winter they 
made another journey to Fort Yukon, continuing their 
journey 400 miles to Fort Selkirk. 

Messrs. William H. Dall, director of the scientific 
corps of the telegraph company, with Mr. Frederick 
Whymper, an officer of the company and an artist, win- 
tered at Nulato in 1866 and in the following Spring pur- 
sued their journey to Fort Yukon. They journeyed in 
"bidarras," or skin boats, and travelled almost con- 
stantly for a period of twenty-nine days. Leaving Fort 
Yukon at the end of a fortnight they made a rapid jour- 
ney to St. Michael Island. For more than twenty years 
Fort Yukon had been the extreme western trading sta- 
tion of the Hudson Bay Company and the supposed 
boundary between Russian and British America, Though 



ARMY 191 

the upper portion of the river as far as Fort Selbrick 
was known to the traders, few had ventured beyond. 
The Russians were uncertain of the boundaries of their 
territory and too indifferent to prove the claim that the 
estabHshment of Fort Yukon was in direct violation of 
the treaty between Russia and England. 

Secretary Seward's instructions to General Rousseau 
included the appointment of military commander of the 
newly acquired territory. General Rousseau was shortly 
promoted to the command of the Department of Colum- 
bia, with headquarters at Portland, Oregon, and the com- 
mand of the military district of Alaska was given to 
General Jefferson C. Davis, with headquarters at Sitka, 
and a garrison of one company of artillery and one com- 
pany of infantry, numbering two hundred and fifty 
men. 

A number of business men had accompanied or pre- 
ceded the commissioners of the two governments, and the 
American flag was scarcely floating from the top of the 
flagstaff before new shops were opened, vacant lots cov- 
ered with framework of shanties and negotiations entered 
into for the purchase of houses, furs, and other property 
of the old Russian company, and in less than a week new 
stores had been erected, and two ten-pin alleys, two 
drinking saloons and a restaurant were opened. 

Sitka, the town that for two-thirds of a century had 
known nothing beyond the dull, unchanging routine of 
labor, and a scanty supply of necessaries at prices fixed 
by a corporate body 8,000 or 10,000 miles away, was 
profoundly startled even by this small ripple of innova- 
tion. To the new American domain flocked a herd of 
men of all sorts and conditions, Alaskan pioneers and 
squatters, and aspirants for political honors and emolu- 
ments in this new Territory. 



192 OUR UNITED STATES 

Before the first sunset gun was fired pre-emption stakes 
dotted the ground, and the air was full of rumors of 
framing a "city charter," creating laws and remunerative 
offices; and it was not long before an election was held 
for town officers, at which over 100 votes were polled for 
nearly as many candidates. The Russian population 
looked with wonder upon this new activity. The families 
of the higher officials, as well as those of the farmer and 
laboring classes, opened their houses to the newcomers 
with true Russian hospitality ; but unfortunately they did 
not discriminate, treating officers, merchants and sol- 
diers alike, and in many instances their kindness was 
shamefully abused. Robberies and assaults were the 
order of the day, or, rather, of the night, until the peace- 
able inhabitants were compelled to lock their doors at 
nightfall, not daring to move about until the bugles 
sounded in the morning. 

A number of representatives of wealthy firms and 
corporations had started upon a race from San Francisco 
or the Sandwich Islands to secure the property and good 
will of the Russian American Company. Mr. H. M. 
Hutchinson, representative of the firm of Hutchinson, 
Kohl and Co., was the successful competitor, he having 
completed his bargain with Prince Maksutof even before 
the agent of the American-Russian or Ice Company, the 
previous partners of the Russians, had been able to pre- 
sent his claims. The Russian-American Company was 
allowed two years in which to settle its affairs and to 
transport all the Russian subjects who wished to return. 
For this purpose all the employes distributed through 
the territory were collected at Sitka. From the time of 
the transfer to 1869, nearly 1,000 of them were living 
there; and to these between $40,000 and $50,000 were 
paid every month as salaries, which being regularly spent 



ARMY 193 

before the next pay day, made business decidedly brisk. 
In addition to these Russians there were two companies 
of soldiers and a few hundred American and other 
traders, while a man-of-war and a revenue cutter were 
always in the harbour, yielding a golden harvest to busi- 
ness men and saloon keepers. At this time high hopes 
of Alaska's future prospects were entertained. The 
Western Union Telegraph enterprise, before its abandon- 
ment, had pushed its wires to Columbia, to Fort Stager, 
on the Skeena River, in 53° 30'. This brought the tele- 
graph within 350 miles of Sitka. 

Difficulties with the Indians in southeastern Alaska 
began at an early day under the new government. The 
last acts of hostility committed by the Kolosh at that 
vicinity had occurred in 1864, when an English vessel, 
called the Royal Charlie, was boarded by the Kekh 
Indians and the entire crew slaughtered. The Russian 
authorities took no notice of the affair whatever, because 
the English craft had no right to trade in those waters, 
and the offenders remained unpunished. 

In December, 1867, the first trouble occurred at Sitka. 
A sentry of the garrison observed some Indians after 
nightfall with a light in the vicinity of the powder maga- 
zine, and, hailing them without receiving an answer, he 
fired, wounding one of the number. The remainder 
decamped, but the next day a demand was made by the 
chief for compensation for the injuries sustained by the 
wounded man. General Davis refused to comply with 
the request, whereupon the chief returned to the village 
and hoisted the English flag. Davis sent a messenger 
to notify the chief that if the foreign flag was not 
removed by daylight on the following day he would 
bombard the village; and when day dawned the rays of 
the sun illuminated the stars and stripes in place of the 



194 OUR UNITED STATES 

cross of St. George, but the Indians were surly for some 
time after the occurrence, threatening an outbreak occa- 
sionally. 

As early as the 1st of March, 1868, a newspaper 
appeared in San Francisco, under the name of the Alaska 
Herald. It was published by a runaway monk of the 
Greek Church, who had never seen Alaska, but who 
imagined that he was called upon to declare himself a 
champion of the former Russian possessions. A few 
columns of this sheet were published in the Russian 
language, and the most absurd proclamations addressed 
to the people of Alaska were circulated among its readers, 
and for some time its publisher succeeded in sowing the 
seeds of discord and dissatisfaction among the new Rus- 
sian speaking citizens of the United States by telling 
them as Americans they were entitled at once to 160 
acres of land, and that they must not labor for less 
compensation than $5 a day in gold, declaring with the 
greatest effrontery that the Constitution of the United 
States so provided. 

In the meantime military garrisons were despatched 
to other points in the territory and located among peace- 
able tribes. A battery of artillery was stationed on the 
island of Kadiak, and another command from the same 
regiment sailed from Washington Territory in June, 
1868, to establish a military post on Cook Inlet. The 
spot to be selected had not been definitely indicated on 
the charts, and while attempting to find the proper place 
a ship was wrecked upon a rock on July 16th, at the 
mouth of what is now called English Bay or Graham 
Harbour ; no lives were lost, but nothing else was saved. 
After suffering much hardship the wrecked soldiers were 
rescued in the month of August by the steamer Fideliter 
and taken to Kadiak. For many years following the 



ARMY 195 

natives of the vicinity had ample supplies of military 
clothing, rifles and other stores cast up by the sea. 

The first American vessel that visited the seal islands 
was owned by the firm of WilHam & Haven, of New 
London. The agent and commander landed on St. Paul 
Island on the 13th of April, 1868, and on the 2nd of 
September sailed for the Sandwich Islands with a rich 
cargo of seal skins. Disputes arose between this party 
and the agent of the successors of the Russian-American 
Company, and the Government found it necessary to sta- 
tion Treasury agents on the island to preserve order and 
prevent, if possible, an indiscriminate slaughter of seals. 

In February, 1868, the first detachment of Russians 
homeward bound left Sitka, numbering 200, on the ship> 
Tsaritza. 

The Indians on the Upper Yukon River and in the 
vicinity of Nulato gave indications of hostile spirit al 
the beginning of the year 1868. The epidemic pneu- 
monia was prevalent among them, and their shamans 
declared to the people that the disease had been imported 
and spread by the white men. The Redonte Nulato had 
previously been the scene of bloody encounters, as in 
1851, when Lieutenant Barnard, royal navy, one of the 
members of the Franklin Search expedition, was killed. 
Several murders occurred among these Indians during 
the first year of the American possession, but the white 
traders were not attacked, though frequently threatened. 
In the meantime the military authorities at Sitka con- 
tinued to have difficulty in the immediate vicinity. It is 
the time-honored custom of the Thinklet to demand 
money or goods for the death or injury of a member of 
the tribe, and failing to receive the desired equivalent 
they retaliate with violence. 

On the 29th of April, 1869, the first number of the 



196 OUB UNITED STATES 

Sitka Times was published at Sitka, by T. G. Murphy, 
who combined the vocations of tailor, lawyer, and editor. 
The little sheet was the organ of an aspirant for guberna- 
torial honours, through whose efforts the city government 
was organized in Sitka, with W. S. Dodge as mayor. 

The new government labored under difficulties, being 
confronted at every step with military orders threaten- 
ing arrest and confinement in the guard-house. A truce 
between the contending powers was observed during the 
visit of Secretar}^ Seward, in the month of July, 1869, 
who came to view the purchase so intimately connected 
with his name. Congratulatory speeches were exchanged 
between Mr. Seward, the military commander, and the 
"mayor and board of aldermen." 

General Thomas, who was then in command of the 
military division of the Pacific, made a tour of inspec- 
tion throughout the territory, and after careful investiga- 
tion of the state of affairs deemed it wise to abandon 
all military posts in Alaska with the exception of that at 
Sitka. 

The year was not to end, however, without additional 
difficulties with the Indians of southeastern Alaska. An 
occurrence took place at Fort Wrangell which delayed 
the abandonment of that post for some time. Some 
white miners passing the place had sold liquor to the 
Indians about the fort, and one of the drunken savages 
beat his squaw until the blood rushed from her mouth. 
The post trader, Leon Smith, interfered and had the 
woman carried into the house of one of the laundresses 
of the garrison. The brutal husband then feigned 
regret for the ill-treatment of his wife, and offered to 
shake the hands of the laundress who had protected her. 
During this friendly ceremony he suddenly seized one 
of the woman's fingers in his mouth and bit it off, and 



ARMY 197 

then fled for the Indian village. A detachment of sol- 
diers was sent to arrest him, but the Indians displayed 
considerable hostility. The trader Smith then set out 
for the village, hoping to pacify the savages, but, after 
advancing a few steps, he was shot down. After con- 
siderable delay, and bombardment of the Indian village 
from the garrison, the murderer was delivered, tried 
by court-martial, and hanged, the chief of the tribe 
acquiescing in the sentence. 

During the year 1870 the western military garrisons 
were withdrawn. 

In the year 1874 an attempt was made to colonize 
Alaska with Icelanders, who were then leaving their own 
country in large numbers, and two of these people were 
taken to Alaska in a United States man-of-war, and 
given every opportunity to view the country. They were 
pleased with what they saw, declaring that the Kadiak 
Archipelago and the coast of Cook Inlet were far superior 
in natural resources to their former home, but before 
their favorable report was in the hands of the Govern- 
ment their people had found more pleasant homes in the 
Western States and in the British possessions. The 
Alaska Commercial Company at that time offered to 
transport a colony of 500 Icelanders to any portion of 
Alaska free of charge, but unfortunately the offer was 
not accepted, and the opportunity of securing additional 
permanent population for at least some portions of Alaska 
passed away. During the same year four miners from 
the Cassias "digging" in British Columbia, made their 
way to the headwaters of the Yukon and descended that 
stream. They discovered small "prospects" of gold in 
a few localities, but found it more profitable to engage 
in the fur trade. 

In the beginning of the year 1874 the garrison at 



198 OUR UNITED STATES 

Wrangell was withdrawn, but owing to disorder among 
the natives it was re-established the following year. 

During the years following several bills were intro- 
duced in Congress looking to the establishment of some 
sort of civil authority of Washington Territory. All 
the various measures proposed fell through without action 
on the part of Congress until 1877, when the troops were 
finally withdrawn. 

The first serious step taken to ascertain something of 
the interior of the country was instituted in 1869 by 
the War Department in ordering a reconnaissance by 
Captain Raymond of the Engineer Corps, who ascended 
the Yukon for the purpose of settling a mooted question 
as to whether Fort Yukon was in the domain of Great 
Britain or was embraced in the Territory of Alaska. 
Prior to the transfer of Alaska to the United States 
this post had been the occasion of great financial loss 
to the Russian Company. "For upon the opening of the 
Yukon in the Spring," writes Captain Raymond, "the 
enterprising and energetic Scotchmen of the station were 
accustomed to descend the river for some 300 miles to 
a station called Nuclucayette, where they met the assem- 
bled Indian tribes and purchased their stores of winter 
skins before the tardy Russians, delayed by currents 
and ice, could arrive at the trading ground. The retire- 
ment of the Russian- American Company, consequent upon 
the transfer of the territory to the United States, inaugur- 
ated a new order of things. Immediately, several Amer- 
ican companies located small establishments upon the 
river and near the coast, and one company sent up the 
river a small party, which succeeded after great efforts 
in reaching a point near Nuclucayette, and wintered oppo- 
site the mouth of the great Tanana. In the following 
Spring, when the traders of the Hudson Bay Company 



ARMY 199 

paid their annual visit to Nuclucayette, their right to 
trade in the 'Indian country' of the United States was 
fiercely contested, and they were informed by the Amer- 
icans that any future attempt to purchase skins within 
our territory would be resisted, if necessary, by force. 
In the Spring of 1869 a new venture was projected by 
capitalists in San Francisco. It was proposed to trans- 
port a small steamer upon the deck of a sailing vessel to 
some point near the mouth of the river, and, launching 
it, to ascend, if possible, as far as Fort Yukon, trading 
along the banks. In connection with this enterprise it 
was regarded as extremely desirable that the question 
of English right to trade in this portion of our territory 
should be definitely settled; and, as the region in the 
vicinity of Fort Yukon was supposed to be peculiarly 
rich in furs, it was also desired that the position of this 
post should be officially determined, and, if it was found 
to be within the territory of the United States, that 
measures should be taken to cause its abandonment by 
the English company." 

Captain Charles P. Raymond in company with John J. 
Major and Private Michael Foley, Ninth United States 
Infantry sailed for Nualaska the 9th of May, 1869, and 
then for St. Michael Island, the nearest position to the 
mouth of the Yukon from which point they proceeded in 
the little steamer Yukon in company with its officers and 
some traders up the great river. On the 31st of July 
at 4 p. M. they arrived at Fort Yukon, distant 1,040 
miles, thus successfully terminating the first journey by 
steam ever made on the Yukon River. 

"At Fort Yukon," writes Captain Raymond, "notwith- 
standing the unpleasant character of our errand, we were 
cordially welcomed by Mr. John Wilson, the agent of the 
Hudson Bay Company, at the station. By General Hal- 



200 OUR UNITED STATES 

leek's permission I had consented temporarily to repre- 
sent the Treasury Department, and under instructions 
of that Department, on the 9th of August, at 12 m., I 
notified the representatives of the Hudson Bay Company 
that the station was the territory of the United States; 
that the introduction of trading goods, or any trade by 
foreigners with the natives was illegal, and must cease, 
and that the Hudson Bay Company must vacate the 
buildings as soon as practicable. I then took possession 
of the buildings and raised the flag of the United States 
over the fort." 

Captain Raymond remained at Fort Yukon until late 
in August, the steamer having returned some time pre- 
viously. The journey back to civilization was performed 
by Captain Raymond and his assistants in a small row- 
boat and by portage. 

In General O. O. Howard's official report of his visit 
to Alaska in 1875, he says : 

"Having been troubled by numerous newspaper charges 
concerning the present management of affairs at Sitka, I 
deemed it best to give to those who were called citizens, 
consisting of Russians, Aluets, half-breeds, American 
and foreign traders, now residing in the town, the 
opportunity to see me apart from the officers of the 
garrison. 

"In keeping with this purpose I met them by appoint- 
ment at the house of the United States collector, Mr. 
Berry. Mr. Berry kindly briefed the complaints, which 
I subsequently carefully considered and acted upon. The 
complaints did not prove to be of much importance ; cer- 
tainly not very grievous. To remedy the real ills of the 
complainants, most of whom were indigent people, I ad- 
vised Major Campbell to introduce a few police regula- 
tions, establish a general hospital, and raise a small rev- 



ARMY 201 

enue, just sufficient to meet the necessities, and detail one 
of his humane officers to act in the capacity of a poUce 
judge. I did not order these things, because, as miHtary 
commander I wished to assume no doubtful powers, but 
was confident that the law under which Major Campbell 
was to exercise jurisdiction as Indian agent in an Indian 
country would warrant his doing everything that human- 
ity required for the relief of a community suffering 
from being within the limits of the United States and 
yet absolutely without law. 

"The instructions from General Halleck, and trans- 
mitted from one commanding officer to another, did imply 
that military government should be extended to the 
Alaska people till Congress should otherwise provide. 
But the late decision of the Hon. Judge Deady, United 
States District Court, limiting military jurisdiction to the 
execution of the liquor law, made it necessary to be ex- 
ceedingly cautious. I wish to renew my earnest recom- 
mendation that, by proper and speedy legislation, Alaska 
be attached as a county to Washington Territory, or in 
some other way be furnished with such a government 
as the treaty with Russia in the transfer plainly con- 
templated." 

The unsettled condition of affairs in Alaska continued 
to cause concern to the Government. Troubles in Sitka 
reached a critical condition in 1879. Each year after 
the military forces were withdrawn the number of In- 
dians increased; while the whites decreased. Two vil- 
lages had grown up side by side, one inhabited by several 
hundred Indians, another by a smaller number of whites, 
among both were lawless and insubordinate characters. 
Petty quarrels remained unsettled, and there had grad- 
ually grown up on the part of the Indian, a contempt 
for the white race which was badly represented, and on 



202 OUR UNITED STATES 

the part of the whites a fear of an hatred towards the 
Indians. These quarrels assumed importance when, 
early in 1879, a miner, who had been involved in some 
difficulties with the Indians, was killed by them. The 
murderers were arrested and tried in Portland, Oregon, 
and one of them was executed. While under arrest at 
Sitka, an attempt was made to rescue them, which, how- 
ever, was frustrated by the acts of friendly Indians. The 
failure of this attempt and the subsequent execution of 
the criminal would have undoubtedly resulted, sooner 
or later, in a massacre of the whites but for the pruden- 
tial and preventive measures adopted. The prompt 
action of Capt. A. Court, of the British ship Osprey, 
checked the rising trouble, and the arrival of the United 
States man-of-war Alaska, and the subsequent arrival of 
the Jamestown, under command of Commander L. A. 
Beardslee, convinced the Indians that an attempt to 
injure the whites would be attended with danger. They 
consequently refrained from such an attempt; but both 
parties had, by this time, come to hate each other, and 
there was evidenced among some of the whites a dispo- 
sition to take advantage of the presence of a war vessel 
and treat the Indians unjustly. When, however, these 
difficulties were overcome a better condition of things 
was brought about. 

Commander Beardslee found the society very much agi- 
tated by fear, and immediately organized such measures 
of relief as appeared to him to be necessary. He was 
fortunate in being able to restore quiet, and with the 
co-operation of the collector of the port and the consent 
of the citizens, to establish a system of regulations which 
furnished the only means of preserving peace and quiet. 
These regulations had not the force of law and would in 
all probability have become ineffectual if it had not been 



ARMY 203 

that they were enforced by the presence of officers of 
the Navy, backed by an armed vessel. 

"Important information in relation to these matters 
has been heretofore communicated by me to Congress," 
writes Secretary Thompson in his report 1880, "with the 
design of showing the embarrassments which the depart- 
ment has experienced in being required to deal with the 
affairs of civil government, so foreign from any of the 
duties required of it by law. It has none of the machin- 
ery necessary for the purpose under its control, and 
whatsoever it does in that direction must proceed alone 
from military power. The substitution of this for civil 
authority is contrary to the spirit of our institutions, 
and I cannot refrain from the expression of the earnest 
hope that Congress will speedily relieve the department 
from the responsibilities which attach to its present 
anomalous position." 

Commander Beardslee and other officers of the James- 
town made trips to various villages, and, by degrees, the 
good results of this friendly intercourse became apparent. 

Captain Beardslee's good work among the natives was 
promoted by his successor, Captain Glass, who won the 
respect of the Indians and succeeded in making several 
treaties of peace between hostile tribes. Commander 
Lull, in the steamer Wachiisett, continued to maintain 
the protectorate in 1881. In the autumn of the following 
year Captain A^Lerriman, commanding the Adams, was 
detailed for Alaska and performed the manifold duties 
of "umpire, judge, referee, and preserver of the peace," 
with tact and discretion. "Not infrequently," says Ban- 
croft, "he was called upon to save the lives of persons 
doomed to death for witchcraft, and to prevent the 
slaughter of slaves at funerals and potlatches." 

Capt. J. B. Coghlan succeeded Captain Merriman, in 



204 OUR UNITED STATES 

command of the Adams, and, the natives being at peace, 
devoted his energies to accurate surveys of the most fre- 
quented channels of the inside passage, "marking off with 
buoys the channel through Wrangell Narrows and Peril 
Straits and designating unknown rocks in Saginaw Chan- 
nel and Neva Strait." 

Lieutenant H. C. Nichols, commanding the U. S. Pinta, 
succeeded Captain Coghlan and was stationed at Sitka 
until the middle of September, 1884. Thirty marines 
were landed for shore duty. Lieutenant Nichols, while 
in command of the Hassler, had made valuable surveys 
of the Alexander Archipelago, which formed the basis 
for several new charts in the Alaska Coast Pilot of 1883. 

This same year a Military Reconnaissance of the Val- 
ley of the Yukon was undertaken by First Lieutenant 
Frederick Schwatka of the Third United States Cav- 
alry, assisted by George T. Wilson, assistant surgeon U. 
S. A.; Charles A. Homan, topographical assistant U. vS. 
A. ; Sergt. Charles Gloster, Corp. William H. Shircliff, 
Private John Roth and a citizen, J. B. Mcintosh. 
Lieutenant Schwatka, with his party, travelled by raft 
a distance of five hundred miles to Fort Selkirk on the 
Upper Yukon. 

Lieutenant W. R. Abercrombie supplemented Lieuten- 
ant Schwatka's explorations the following year. It was 
deemed important to ascertain all possible information 
concerning the interior and the native Indians. The con- 
flicting interests of the white and the natives threatened 
to cause serious trouble to the authorities, and for this 
purpose General Miles then in charge of the department 
of Columbia ordered several military expeditions. Lieu- 
tenant Abercrombie made his objective point the district 
drained by the Copper and Tanana rivers, where he 
endeavored to ascertain as far as practicable the num- 



ARMY 205 

bers, character and disposition of the Indians living in 
that section of the country. He made note of the number 
of tribes and clans, the districts they inhabited, their rela- 
tions to each other, their disposition toward the Russian 
government of the past and ascertained their position 
toward the Government of the United States. Other im- 
portant items noted in his instructions were to ascertain 
their means of communication, the amount and kinds of 
material of war in their possession and from whence 
obtained. 

"I was expected," he says, "to inform myself as to the 
character of the country and the means of sustaining 
a military force, should one be needed in the Territory. 
To examine the kind and extent of the native grasses, and 
ascertain if animals ordinarily used in military operations 
could be subsisted and made of service there ; to observe 
the character of the climate; to gather information that 
would be valuable to the military service; to impress 
the natives with the friendly disposition of the Govern- 
ment ; to avoid provoking the hostility of the natives, and 
to make a full report as far as possible of my journey, 
and bring back maps, tracings, and field notes, relating 
to the country over which I had travelled." 

Lieutenant Henry T. Allen of the Second United 
States Cavalry with Sergt. Cady Robinson and Private 
Fred W. Fickett made a reconnaissance of the Copper 
River and the Tanana River valleys in 1885, covering 
in their explorations a vast area of little known country. 

The Autumn of 1896 signalled world-wide interest in 
the report of the discovery of gold in large quantities in 
the valley of the Yukon River. The rush of miners who 
flocked to this locality made necessary the continuous 
operations of the Army in the work of policing and open- 
ing up the interior for permanent settlement. The Mili- 



206 OUR UNITED STATES 

tary District, known as the District of the Lynn Canal, in 
southeastern Alaska was established, February 18, 1898. 

The unprecedented growth of trade on the Yukon River 
and the necessity for the protection of life and property 
required the establishment of a military post at St. Mich- 
ael's the year previous. 

The necessity of military protection to citizens on the 
frontier was again exemplified in the orders issued at 
the War Department, Washington, August 4, 1897, ad- 
dressed . to Capt. T. H. R., Eighth Infantry, Seattle, 
Washington. 

"The President sends you, with Lieutenant Richard- 
son, to the Alaska gold field, to which so many are flock- 
ing, to investigate and report, as fully and frequently 
as you can, the condition of affairs and make such recom- 
mendations as you may deem best. Make your first 
headquarters at Circle City and change location as you 
may find advantageous. The following points especially 
to be covered in your report: 

"Are troops necessary there, and if so, for what pur- 
pose, etc.? 

"Are the civil authorities affording reasonable protec- 
tion to life and property? 

"Are the people disposed to be law-abiding or other- 

Where are the people locating and in what num- 
bers? . . . 

"Is there food in the country for the population to 
winter there? 

"These and all other subjects — military, civil, and com- 
mercial — that will be of use and interest will be covered 
by your investigations, etc., etc. 
"By order of the President. 

"R. A. Alger, Secretary of War" 



wise f 



ARMY 207 

Rumors of starvation at Dawson City were immedi- 
ately investigated at the War Department. To estab- 
lish an All-American route, by which prospective settlers 
could proceed without undergoing the annoyances inci- 
dent upon passing through alien country, was the next 
move of the Secretary of War. 

One expedition consisting of Captain Bogardus Edri- 
gal, Second Lieutenants Elmer W. Clark and Robert 
Field, and twenty men. Captain D. L. Brainard, quarter- 
master and commissary officer. First Lieutenant Frank- 
lin M. Kemp, assistant surgeon, acting Hospital Steward 
John G. Abele, and two privates of the Hospital Corps, 
with guides, proceeded with reindeer sledges via Dalton 
trail to Dawson, and established a military camp in the 
vicinity of Belle Isle. 

The purpose of this expedition was to discover, 
explore and mark a trail from the Yukon up Forty Mile 
Creek to the Tanana River, and other practicable routes 
southward from the Yukon between Belle Isle and Circle 
City to the Tanana. 

A second expedition consisting of Captain W. R. Aber- 
crombie, First Lieutenant Guy Preston, First Lieutenant 
P. G. Lowe, Second Lieutenant R. M. Broodfield, with 
fifteen enlisted men and several members of the Hospital 
Corps, established a base at Waldes Inlet, and explored 
to the junction of the Copper River and tributaries to the 
Tanana River. 

A third expedition consisting of Captain E. F. Glenn, 
First Lieutenant Henry G. Learnard, Second Lieutenant 
J. C. Castner, First Lieutenant John S. Kulp, and mem- 
bers of the Hospital Corps and nineteen enlisted men 
were ordered to proceed to Fort Wells, Prince William 
Sound, Alaska, there to establish a camp and depot and 
explore northeastward and northwestward for routes 



208 OUR UNITED STATES 

toward Copper and Shushitna Rivers. This expedition 
was ordered to re-embark about May 1, 1898, for Cook 
Inlet, thence to explore northward and endeavor to dis- 
cover the most direct and practicable route from tide 
water to one or more crossings of the Tanana River, in 
the direction of the Yukon, between Forty Mile Creek 
and Circle City. 

"As much territory as possible will be covered by each 
expedition," concludes the orders, "especially between 
the Yukon, Tanana, Copper and Sushitna rivers, and all 
information will be collected and embodied in the reports 
that may be valuable to the development of the country, 
regarding topographical features, available routes of 
travel, feasible routes for railroad construction, appro- 
priate and available sites for military posts, mineral 
resources, timber, fuel, products, capability of sustaining 
stock or animals of any kind, and the animals best 
suited for service in that country in Winter and Summer. 
Maps and, when practicable, photographs will accompany 
all reports." 

In accordance with the provisions the opening of a 
military road from Valdez to Copper Center and by the 
most direct and practicable route to Eagle City was 
entrusted to Captain W. R. Abercrombie and his assist- 
ants in 1899. His mission was to triangulate it, note 
elevations, depressions and other features definitely 
located, and properly mark it on either side as far as 
practicable, in order that it might be known and used as 
a route of travel for the public. 

"The scene that followed the arrival of our vessel at 
Valdez," writes Captain Abercrombie, "was one that I 
shall not soon forget. Crowding aboard the steamer 
came the Argonauts of last season's rush into the Copper 



ARMY 209 

River Valley, and who now considered themselves full- 
fledged miners, although many of them had never handled 
either pick or shovel since their entry into the country. 
A more motley looking crowd it would be hard to imagine. 
They wore mackinaw suits of all varieties and colors, 
and their clothing was faded and worn by exposure to 
the elements and their long journey over the Valdez 
Glacier from the Copper River Valley. They seemed to 
be badly demoralized, and from a hurried conversation 
I had with six or seven I had known the year before, I 
was led to believe that hundreds were dying of starvation 
and scurvy beyond the Coast Range in the Copper River 
Valley. Most of those then in the settlement of Valdez 
had little or no money; but notwithstanding this fact, 
a wholesale orgy was inaugurated that lasted until mid- 
night. 

"In some way these people became possessed of the 
idea that the Government contemplated furnishing them 
transportation from Valdez to Seattle, and it was not for 
some days that I could disabuse their minds of this fact. 
That they had passed a terrible winter was beyond all 
question of doubt; that many of their companions had 
died from scurvy and had been frozen to death was in 
evidence at the little graveyard that had sprung up since 
my departure the year before. 

"One of the first men from whom I could get an 
intelligent account of the condition of things was Quarter- 
master Agent Charles Brown, whose salutation to me 
was, *My God, Captain, it has been clear Hell! I tell 
you, the early days of Montana were not a mark to what 
I have gone through this Winter ! It was awful !' Going 
ashore with Mr. Brown, I visited the various cabins in 
which he had housed some eighty or one hundred of 



210 OUR UNITED STATES 

these destitute prospectors, and from what I saw there 
I was satisfied that, while his remarks might have been 
forcible, they were not an exaggeration. 

"Many of the people I had met and known the year 
before were so changed in their appearance, with their 
long hair hanging down their shoulders and beards cover- 
ing their entire faces, that I do not think I recognized one 
of them. They were crowded together, from fifteen to 
twenty in log cabins twelve by fifteen, and in the centre 
of which was a stove. On the floor of the cabin at night 
they would spread their blankets and lie down, packed 
like sardines in a box. Facilities for bathing there were 
none. Most of them were more or less afflicted with 
scurvy, while not a few of them had frost bitten hands, 
faces and feet. Their footwear in some cases consisted 
of the tops of rubber boots that had been cut off by 
Brown and manufactured into shoes. Around their feet 
they had wound strips of gunny sacks, which were used 
in place of socks. Across the cabin, from side to side, 
were suspended ropes on which were hung various 
articles of apparel that had become wet in wallowing 
through the deep snow and had been hung up at night to 
dry. The odor emanating from these articles of cloth- 
ing, the sore feet of those who were frozen and the 
saliva and breath of those afflicted with scurvy, gave 
forth a stench that was simply poisonous, as well as 
sickening, to a man in good health, and sure death to 
one in ill-health. 

"I at once directed Brown to hire a cabin," continues 
the Captain, "in which to organize a hospital and another 
one for a cook house, and to employ a crew to run both 
places. I noticed in talking to these people that over 
seventy per cent, of them were more or less mentally de- 
ranged. My attention was first directed to this fact by 



ARMY 211 

their reference to a ^glacial demon.' One big, raw-boned 
Swede, in particular, described to me how this demon 
had strangled his son on the glacier, his story being that 
he had just started from Twelve Mile Plant (a small col- 
lection of huts just across the Coast Range of mountains 
from Valdez) with his son to go to the coast in company 
with other prospectors. When half way up the summit 
of the glacier, his son, who was ahead of him hauling a 
sled, while he was behind pushing, called to him, saying 
that the demon had attacked him and had his arms 
around his neck. The father ran to his son's assistance, 
but, as he described it, his son being very strong, soon 
drove the demon away, and they passed on their way up 
toward the summit of Valdez Glacier. The weather was 
very cold and the wind blowing very hard, so that it 
made travelling very difficult in passing over the ice be- 
tween the huge crevasses through which it was neces- 
sary to pick their way to gain the summit. While in the 
thickest of these the demon again appeared. He was 
said to be a small heavy-built man and very active. He 
again sprung on the son's shoulders, this time with such 
a grasp that, although the father did all he could to re- 
lease him, the demon finally strangled the son to death. 
The old man then put the son on the sled and brought 
him down to the Twelve Mile Camp, where the other 
prospectors helped him to bury him. 

"During the recital of this tale the old man's eyes 
would blaze and he would go through all the actions to 
illustrate just how he fought off this imaginary demon. 
When I heard this story there were some ten or twelve 
other men in the cabin, and at that time it would not have 
been safe to dispute the theory of the existence of this 
demon on the Valdez Glacier, as every man in there 
firmly believed it to be a reality. 



212 OUR UNITED STATES 

"I was informed by Mr. Brown that this was a common 
form of mental derangement incident to those whom a 
fear of scurvy had driven out over the glacier, where so 
many had perished by freezing to death. 

"In pursuance of my instructions," says Captain Aber- 
crombie, "to construct a trans- Alaskan military road from 
the cantonment at Port Valdez to Port Egbert, Yukon 
River, I selected for the personnel of this duty, men who 
had been formerly employed in rail and trail construction 
through the Big Horn and Rocky Mountains in Colorado 
and Wyoming. As a result, there was brought together 
a number of men of large experience in such work. I 
was authorized to employ a surveyor and an assistant 
surveyor, two topographers, a foreman of trail crew, 
four rock workers, two cooks and fifteen axmen. This 
authority was afterwards increased by the Acting Secre- 
tary of War so as to provide for all the unemployed in 
the Copper River district. 

"During the Summer of 1899 the prospecting of some 
fifteen or twenty men over an area much larger in ex- 
tent than covered by all the New England States resulted 
in a practical demonstration of the existence of heavily 
mineralized zones of copper, borite, and other ores in the 
mountainous districts of the Chettyna, Mount Blackburn, 
Tanana, and White Rivers. It is not uncommon to find 
nuggets of native copper in the shape of float, varying 
in size from small bird shot to pieces weighing many 
pounds." 

During the year 1900 the United States forces in 
Alaska continued the explorations and road construction 
of the Copper River Expedition and the construction of 
military posts at St. Michael, Cape Nome and Port 
Valdez, and this year saw the completion of the posts at 
Forts Egbert and Gibbon, and the construction of tele- 



ARMY 213 

graph lines throughout the Territory for which an ap- 
propriation of $450,000 had been voted by Congress. 

"This work," wrote Mr. Root, the Secretary of War, 
"has been assiduously prosecuted ; but the force had had 
thrust upon it other and unexpected duties. About 
18,000 people arrived at Cape Nome during the month 
of June. Brig. Gen. George M. Randall, the department 
commander says of them : 

" *A great many people came for the purpose of locat- 
ing permanent business, others to work the beach and 
tundra, and still another class to "work" their fellowmen. 
This last class was probably the most numerous and cer- 
tainly the most industrious of all. Supplies and ma- 
chinery of all descriptions could be seen upon the beach. 
Nearly every one seemed to think he had a divine right 
to take possession of a claim or town lot wherever found. 
This course resulted in many disturbances and some of 
a serious character. Many property owners were dis- 
posed to defend their rights by taking the law in their 
own hands, and the timely arrival of additional troops 
averted bloodshed and probable serious disorder. 

"There was practically no civil government at Cape 
Nome. The only organization representing the forces 
of law and order was a chamber of commerce which 
passed a resolution June 24, 1900, which embodied the 
request that ^General Randall take such steps as may be 
necessary to provide for the government of this camp 
until the arrival of the United States district court in the 
following particulars, to wit: 

I. To provide for the policing of this camp. 

II. To provide for the proper sanitation of this camp. 

III. To provide and enforce proper quarantine regu- 
lations. 

IV. To provide for the general welfare and protec- 



214 OUR UNITED STATES 

tion of life and property, including such measures as may 
be necessary to prevent and subdue fire or other destruc- 
tion of property by the elements. 

"Immediate steps were taken by the commanding officer 
to establish patrols throughout the town and preserve 
order and protect life and property. 

"The chief surgeon took charge of the sanitary condi- 
tions, which were exceedingly bad, and a simple system 
of sanitary regulations was enforced. With the efficient 
co-operation of Lieut. L. H. Jarvis, and Lieut. J. C. Cant- 
well, of the United States Revenue Cutter Service, an 
outbreak of smallpox was dealt with and controlled. 

"Supplies of food and medicine were distributed among 
sick and needy Eskimos. 

"With the creation of orderly social conditions at Cape 
Nome," writes the Secretary of War the following year, 
"and the establishment of civil control under the opera- 
tion of the courts, the department has been discontinued 
and the number of troops has been greatly reduced. The 
principal duty left for them to perform has been the con- 
struction of the military telegraph system." 

The Signal Corps exhibited great activity under cir- 
cumstances of great difficulty in the construction of tele- 
graph lines and within a period of twenty- four months 
established 1,121 miles of land lines and submarine cables. 
"When the exceedingly difficult conditions within the 
Territory are considered," writes Mr. Root, "and the 
labor and hardships which the officers and men of the 
Corps encountered are appreciated, the construction of 
this telegraph shows the spirit which characterizes this 
branch of our service." 

The year 1903 saw the completion of this work, in- 
cluding 1,740 miles of telegraph line, of which 1,486 are 
land and 254 cable, connecting Fort St. Michael, on the 



ARMY 215 

south shore of Norton Sound, with Fort Davis and 
Nome City on the north shore, and running easterly from 
St. Michael to the valley of the Yukon, passing up that 
valley to Fort Gibbon and Rampart, and from Fort Gib- 
bon passing up the valleys of the Tanana and Goodpas- 
ture Rivers to Fort Egbert and Eagle City; thence, run- 
ning southerly across the divide between the Tanana and 
Copper Rivers, through the Copper River Country to 
Valdes, on Prince William's Sound. A separate cable 
of 120 miles connects Skagway, at the head of Lyon 
Canal, with Hains Mission and Junean. 

The Chief Signal Officer says of this construction : 
"It is impossible to adequately set forth the tremen- 
dous difficulties under which Alaskan military telegraphs 
have been constructed and maintained. In general it is 
to be premised that not 20 miles of constructed wagon 
road exists in the country traversed. As a rule all 
material has been sledded into the interior in midwinter 
or carried by pack animals over the roughest imaginable 
trails. Conditions were so difficult that some coils of 
wire were carried 145 miles by pack. The magnitude of 
the work may be inferred by the statement that from 
Fort Egbert alone, between November 20, 1902 and 
June 30, 1903, no less than 220 tons of supplies and 
material were sledded or packed into the interior, it being 
impossible to move a ton by wagon. The construction 
parties, consisting almost entirely of enlisted men of the 
Signal Corps and of the line of the Army, worked steadily 
the entire Winter, although the conditions under which 
field work was done were of the most hazardous and ap- 
palling character. As an illustration may be mentioned 
the fact that from November 1, to the end of the Winter, 
by official reports, 60 feet and 11 inches of snow fell at 
Fort Liscum, adjoining the Copper River Valley. In the 



216 OUB UNITED STATES 

interior, while the snow fall was very much less, being 
only 4 feet 4 inches at Egbert, yet continued and terrible 
cold made camp life and construction work almost in- 
supportable. The mean temperature at Fort Egbert from 
November to February, inclusive — a period of four 
months — was 2° below zero. There were prolonged 
periods of extreme low temperature when the mercury 
remained frozen, the minimum of 61° below zero oc- 
curring in January. While the past Winter is beheved 
to have been the most severe in Alaska for many years, 
yet such was the resourcefulness and endurance of the 
American soldier that the work of construction in the 
valley of the Tanana was carried on the entire Winter 
without loss of life and with only one serious case of 
freezing. 

'Tt is doubted," he concludes, "whether in the peace- 
ful annals of the Army there have been met with nobler 
fortitude by the enlisted men equal conditions of hard- 
ship and privation." 



CHAPTER XIII 
Cuba and the Philippines 

The brilliant and sudden termination of the Spanish- 
American war, a contest which the American people had 
every reason to believe might be protracted over many 
months, if not years, unexpectedly thrust upon the 
Federal Government the protection, care and welfare of 
many millions of human beings whose existence and 
traditions had been fostered under the most debased 
form of monarchical espionage. These unfortunates, 
who had struggled for centuries under the domination of 
Spanish rule, were abruptly transferred to the protection 
of a flag which stands for the broadest principles of 
democratic government, religious and personal liberty. 

Vast colonial possessions, with unknown and un- 
developed resources, laid waste by the ruthless hand of 
oppression and war, with a swarming population pros- 
trated commercially, financially and morally, must be at- 
tuned to new conditions, new institutions, new methods 
of administration and by a protectorate alien in every re- 
spect to the Latin American temperament. 

The withdrawal of the Spanish forces from Cuba and 
replacing these with the American Army of occupation 
was not attended without danger and serious apprehen- 
sion, but no untoward event occurred and by the first of 
January, 1899, the last of the Spanish military rule de- 
parted never to return. 

217 



218 OUR UNITED STATES 

As the Spanish Army retreated, the Cuban Army had 
followed and it took charge of the towns and country, 
performing the necessary police duty of maintaining 
order and preventing brigandage. In November, 1898, 
the Cuban Army had been ordered disbanded and the 
government of the Islands may be said to have been 
henceforth conducted ''through the channels of civil ad- 
ministration, although under military control," except 
the Department of Customs which was conducted accord- 
ing to the system prescribed by the Secretary of War. 

"The most serious obstacle to be overcome in establish- 
ing the government through civil channels," writes 
General John R. Brooke, first Military Governor of the 
Island of Cuba, "is the natural distrust of the people, 
which was born and nurtured under the system of the 
preceding government and was particularly the effect 
of the wars which these people waged in their effort to 
improve their condition. Upon the relinquishment of 
the sovereignty of Spain a large number of the people 
were found to be actually starving. Efforts were im- 
mediately made to supply food which the War Depart- 
ment sent, amounting all told, to 5,493,500 Cuban rations, 
and these were sent into the country and distributed 
under the direction of the Commanding Generals of de- 
partments through such agencies as they established while 
in the cities, the distribution was generally conducted by 
an officer of the Army. Medicines were also supplied 
for the sick, employment given to those who could work 
and they were paid weekly so that they could buy food. 
In fact, no effort was spared to relieve the terrible con- 
dition in which so many thousand people were found. 
A state of desolation, starvation and anarchy prevailed 
almost everywhere. In Santa Clara, with the exception 
of the municipal district of Cienfuegoes, agriculture and 



ARMY 219 

trade had practically disappeared. For this reason, and 
on account of the number of reconcentrados, mendicants 
and criminals, the most complete political, economic and 
social chaos prevailed. The country roads, mail service, 
public instruction and local governments were in a state 
of almost complete abandonment. 

Upon the disbanding of the Cuban Army, a great 
source of distrust was removed and conditions improved 
with remarkable rapidity. 

The matter of financial aid in sanitation, repairs and 
restoration of public buildings, maintenance of police, 
aid to municipalities, etc., etc., involved a large expendi- 
ture of customs revenues, and it became necessary to 
establish a system of accountability, which was perfected 
by the Treasurer of the Customs Revenues Major Ladd, 
and as Treasurer and Auditor the accounting under this 
system was continued until a system prepared by the 
War Department was placed in operation. 

In reorganizing the courts, great difficulties were en- 
countered, great care was taken to avoid the establish- 
ment of a system not suited to this people or to the laws 
to be administered by these courts. The Law of Pro- 
cedure in criminal cases had all the defects of the 
ancient system where the rights of men were but little 
regarded, and it lacked those methods of modern times 
whereby the humblest citizen, as well as the most power- 
ful may be protected in the enjoyment of his just rights 
and personal freedom. Through a system of the pay- 
ment of the municipal judges and subordinate employes 
by fees received, particularly in criminal cases, instead of 
by regular salaries, there were established schemes of 
collection of additional illegal fees which became a 
regular part of the system; and so accustomed had these 
officials become to it that it was impossible to secure 



220 OUR UNITED STATES 

speedy transaction of business or even to obtain justice, 
without the payment of extra fees demanded, and unjust 
judgments were often secured through false or partial 
record of the Escribanos, who wrote up the cases that 
were to be presented to the courts. 

These conditions were improved by the abolishment of 
the "Incomunicado" system, the payment of regular 
salaries to the judges, and the general re-organization of 
the personnel of the courts, changes that have brought 
the judicial system of the Island to a more honest and 
satisfying basis. 

The question of finance as related to the restoration 
of crippled and destroyed agricultural industries was one 
which occupied much attention in the government of 
Cuba. Labor-saving devices were slowly introduced. 
The repair of roads and bridges was not neglected, and 
surveys were made adjacent to Havana for the purpose 
of facilitating the transmission of crops ready for market. 

Under General Chaffee, the Chief of Staflf, Colonel 
Bliss, the Collector and Major Ladd the Treasurer, the 
collection, care and use of revenues of Cuba were care- 
fully administered. 

It may be conceded at this time that the United States 
flag was an actual "advance agent of prosperity." 

The quiet severance of the Church and State was 
effected by the fact of the Government of the United 
States being in control. 

The important subject of schools was another subject 
of absorbing interest to Cuba. 

"The Military Governor had as civil assistants four 
secretaries who formed a cabinet or council," writes 
General Leonard Wood, Military Governor in 1899-1902. 
"The Secretary of State and Governor was charged with 
the general supervision of the provincial and municipal 



ARMY 221 

administrations. . . . The Department of Justice and 
Public Instruction was in charge of an official designated 
as the Secretary of Justice and Public Instruction, who 
was in charge of the administration of justice and re- 
sponsible for the proper supervision of the same. . . . 

"Public Works, Agriculture, Industry and Commerce 
were grouped and administered under the charge of an 
official known as the Secretary of Agri. Com. Indus. & 
Public Works. 

"The Department of Hacienda or Finance was under 
the Secretary of Hacienda, who was charged with the 
collection of internal revenue, supervision of municipal 
finances, safe guarding and care of public buildings, en- 
forcement of the tax laws, payments of the employes 
of the general government in the various departments 
and collection of rents for public lands and rented 
properties of the government of all kinds. These four 
general departments of the government were each sup- 
plied with their own personnel, necessarily quite numer- 
ous, and had throughout the various provinces of the 
Island their assistants and deputies. 

"The Customs Service established during the year 
1899, had been organized in all parts of the island under 
the very able and efficient administration of Colonel 
Tasker H. Bliss. This service was practically under the 
charge of American officials, most of them officers of the 
Army. Colonel Bliss, in addition to being the head of the 
service of the Island, was in direct personal charge of 
the Custom house of Havana. 

"The funds of the Island, derived from customs, in- 
ternal revenue, postal and miscellaneous receipts, were 
deposited with the North American Trust Company, to 
the credit of the Treasurer of the Island, Major E. F. 
Ladd. 



222 OUR UNITED STATES 

"The Quarantine Service had been organized by and 
was in charge of the Marine Hospital Service. 

"Postal Service was under the Post Master General 
and wholly independent of the government of the Island. 

"The Telegraph and Public Telephone Lines were in 
charge of the Signal Corps of the Army, under the con- 
trol of Chief Signal Officer of the Division, Colonel H. 
H. C. Dunwoody, having as assistant the officers of the 
Signal Corps stationed throughout the Island. 

"Lieutenant Commander Lucien Young, U. S. N., was 
Captain of the Port of Havana and exercised general 
supervision over all the Captains of Ports of the Island. 

"Police Supervision was exercised by a rural guard of 
the various provinces. 

"Charities and Hospitals were mostly under the com- 
manding generals of the different departments, each com- 
mander estimating for and looking after those of his own 
department. This was also true of prisons in all that 
pertained to their maintenance and sanitation. Sanitary 
work in all of the large cities, especially in garrisoned 
towns, was entirely under the military officers, and 
throughout the Island it was under their general charge. 

"The Auditor for the Island was a civilian, the system 
of accounting and auditing was similar to that of the 
United States Treasury. 

"The Island was divided into four military depart- 
ments. Each was under the command of a general offi- 
cer. These general officers were charged with the usual 
military control and administration of the forces under 
their command, under the Rules and Regulations of the 
Army governing the United States." 

When General Wood was appointed, conditions were 
improving throughout the Island. A large tobacco crop 
and a small sugar crop were in prospect. 



ARMY 223 

A new school law, somewhat rudimentary in character, 
but believed sufficiently complete for immediate needs, 
had been published in order to permit the preliminary 
establishment of schools, the efficient operation of which 
would cost several hundred thousand dollars per month. 
The schools were practically without school furniture, 
and the amount of supplies and material was very small. 

"The crowded condition of the jails," he continues, 
"with untried prisoners, indicated only too clearly an in- 
efficient administration of justice. Generally speaking, 
jails and hospitals were all in need of refitting and re- 
pairs. In the Department of Public Works a systematic 
and well-defined plan of operation was needed in order 
that the main lines of communication might be opened 
with as little delay as possible. The immense amount of 
work called for in the important departments of Justice 
and Public Instruction necessitated their separation. 
This was done and two distinct departments formed. 

"The Light-house Service was organized and placed 
under the charge of Senor Mario Menocal, a civil engineer 
of good standing, and the work of this important depart- 
ment at once taken up. Senor Menocal was later suc- 
ceeded by Senor E. J. Balbiu. 

"The most serious condition which presented itself for 
immediate action was that of prisons. This was such as 
to demand a thorough and rigid investigation in order 
that existing abuses might be corrected and avoided in 
the future. In order to have this work systematically 
conducted, an inspector of prisons was appointed and 
directed to inspect all prisons and all prisoners at least 
three times a year, at as nearly equal intervals as pos- 
sible. The purpose of this was to keep the prisoners 
under rigid supervision, thereby preventing overcrowd- 
ing and unjust and improper detention. 



224 OUR UNITED STATES 

"The administration and conduct of the prisons was one 
of the worst features of the former government of Cuba. 
When the United States assumed control of the Island, 
the prisons were found without proper sanitary arrange- 
ments, without proper appliances for cooking, lighting 
or ventilation ; in fact, they were simply mediaeval prison 
houses. There seemed to be no system looking towards 
the reformation of the inmates, the whole purpose being 
solely to punish, never to correct. Records were im- 
perfectly kept. Prisoners awaiting trial in many cases 
had no idea of the charges under which they were held 
or date of their trial. They had no means of procuring 
witnesses, and were often held months awaiting trial and 
finally discharged for lack of evidence, their small plan- 
tations in the meantime having been ruined and their 
families scattered. In Havana I found conditions exist- 
ing," continues General Wood, "of such a character 
as to warrant prompt action in connection with the 
Carcel. The sanitation was bad, the prisoners were with- 
out sufficient hammocks or cots, and in many instances 
without blankets or other suitable bedding. The cooking 
arrangements were bad. So far as public interest went, 
there was absolutely none, in the institution or in their 
proper conduct. . . . 

"Immediate steps were taken to install in the Carcel 
modem cooking arrangement, proper sanitation, sanitary 
closets, sewers, etc. A steam kitchen, steam laundry and 
additional sanitary improvements, such as were possible 
in an old and illy constructed building, were put in. . . . 

"The provincial or Andrencia prisons were formerly 
conducted with better regard for system or method, the 
sole object being to retain the prisoners within the walls. 
Hardened criminals and boys awaiting trial were found 
in the same general prison rooms. Prisoners were al- 



ARMY 225 

lowed to have food sent in pretty much at will. Their 
prison rooms were filled with all sorts of articles, reading 
matter, mess outfits, and special articles of food. Con- 
victs if they had sufficient means, were allowed to have 
separate rooms, supplying themselves with whatever 
luxuries they could purchase. Bathing facilities and 
sanitary arrangements were of the crudest possible de- 
scription, and in many places wanting. 

"General orders have been published requiring that 
prisoners detained and awaiting trial be kept in rooms 
apart from those sentenced, and that boys, whether 
sentenced or awaiting trial, be separated from adult 
prisoners. ... 

"During the year 1900 all the prisons were thoroughly 
cleaned up and nearly all received general repairs, which 
in some places amounted almost to reconstruction. 
Wherever possible, bathing facilities were furnished and 
the condition of ventilation improved and suitable bedding 
has been supplied. 

"When we came to the Island," continues General 
Wood, "no institutions worthy of the name of correctional 
schools existed. There was only one so-called correc- 
tional establishment. This amounted to little more than 
an ill-kept, filthy institution, full of boys of all characters, 
some of them, thoroughly vicious, others, boys who had 
fallen into bad habits simply through neglect or loss of 
parents, and boys confined without any obvious reason. 
The children made one of the saddest pictures the Is- 
land presented. They were living without proper sur- 
roundings and under conditions which induced abnormal 
habits and immorality. There was nothing whatever in 
it which was correctional. The influences were de- 
moralizing and bad. It was situated in Havana and 
known as the San Jose 'Correctional School. The condi- 



226 OUR UNITED STATES 

tion of these boys was such that they were transferred 
to Reina Battery in January 1900, and an effort made to 
place them under better influences. The . battery had 
been used as a barrack by our troops and furnished with 
some simple sanitary arrangements. There was plenty 
of light and air. The boys were retained there for 
several months, then transferred to Guana jay, where they 
were established in an almost ideal location, under con- 
ditions favorable to correction and reformation. 

"Under the Spanish Government many liberal and 
wise provisions were made for the care of children and 
aged and infirm people. Almost every large town has its 
Beneficencia in which are always found children of both 
sexes and many cases of old people, cripples, etc. 

"Nearly all the establishments have very large proper- 
ties and endowments from private individuals, but owing 
to the disastrous effects of the war and the suffering and 
confusion following it, very few of them derive any in- 
come from their properties, and consequently have re- 
quired the assistance of the State. 

"The purpose for which these institutions were founded 
was an excellent one and the laws and regulations govern- 
ing them were conceived and drawn up in a broad and 
liberal spirit, yet years of neglect and bad administration 
had destroyed in many instances all semblance of efficient 
administration. . . . 

"In all these institutions extensive sanitary reforms 
have been made during the year ( 1900) . They have been 
thoroughly cleaned up, and in some instances, as at 
Havana, the State has expended many thousands of dol- 
lars in modern cooking arrangements, sanitary appliances 
of all kinds and improvements to the buildings and 
grounds." 

During the summer of 1900, 1,281 Cuban teachers were 



ARMY 227 

collected from different ports of the island by five United 
States transports which carried them to Boston where 
they were enabled to attend a summer school at Cam- 
bridge under the direction of Harvard University. At 
the expiration of their visit they were again transported 
on Government vessels to Cuba. 

Previous to transferring the government of Porto Rico 
to the civil authorities according to the Act of Congress 
April 12, 1900, a similar work of military administration 
had been in progress. Distributions of food, medical and 
hospital supplies, and clothing was made by a board of 
charities, of which the chief surgeon of the military de- 
partment was president and in which the entire organiza- 
tion of the army in the department was utilized. 

"To as great an extent as practicable," writes the 
Secretary of War, "the owners of the coffee plantations 
were utilised in the distribution of rations, and the able- 
bodied men receiving them were required, in return for 
rations, to engage in the work of recovering the planta- 
tions from the destruction wrought by the hurricane, in 
order that as soon as possible the production of coffee 
on the island might be revived. 

"For the purpose of furnishing further relief by giving 
employment instead of alms, and at the same time secur- 
ing much needed means of communication, the Depart- 
ment authorized, October 25, 1899, the expenditure of 
$200,000 and February 27 and May 14, 1900, the further 
expenditure of $750,000 for the construction of military 
roads, under the direction of the engineer force of the 
Department, the work being continued by that body 
after the transfer of government by the request of the 
civil governor." 

The telegraph system of the island was constructed by 
the Signal Corps, at an approximate cost of $60,000 per 



228 OUR UNITED STATES 

year, which was paid out of appropriations for the sup- 
port of the Army. 

"After all the disorder, lawlessness, and distress conse- 
quent upon a state of war," writes Secretary Root, "the 
withdrawal of accustomed control, the transfer of sover- 
eignty to a people unfamiliar with the language, the 
customs, and prejudices of the island, the long delay in 
the legislation establishing civil and political rights and 
business relations, the poverty, ruin, and suffering caused 
by the great hurricane, the military governor was able 
to say, at the close of his administration : 

" *On April 30th, the machinery of civil government 
was in the charge of experienced public officers, and the 
organization, with departments, bureaus, and other 
branches, both insular and municipal, was such that the 
new government ordered by Congress to be instituted, 
could the following day be launched and carried forward 
in an efficient and economic manner. The courts of the 
island were all in the discharge of their proper functions. 
The dockets were not crowded as they were a year be- 
fore. The prisons and jails were well kept and were not 
overflowing. The public highways were in fine condi- 
tion and were being rapidly extended. The amount that 
could be spared from the treasury for education was be- 
ing applied in such a manner as to give instruction ac- 
cording to modern methods to over 30,000 children. The 
laws of taxation had been so changed that very heavy 
and onerous burdens had been removed from the 
poor. 

" Tn office in every municipality were officers who in 
every instance were the choice of electors, thus granting 
to municipalities almost complete autonomy. 

" 'Life and property were everywhere secure, and this 
without the use of troops for protection. Notwithstand- 



ARMY 229 

ing the most grievous losses suffered by the people from 
raids of banditti, from arson, from disturbance of trade 
relations, from losses of Spanish markets without corres- 
ponding gains elsewhere, from unsettled conditions re- 
sulting from the use of a currency which suffered a heavy 
discount when referred to a gold basis, and, finally, from 
the almost overwhelming disaster of August of last year, 
when seven- tenths of all maturing crops were blotted out 
of existence — notwithstanding all these obstacles and 
burdens, the military governor was able to turn over to 
the civil governor the comfortable balance in the insular 
treasury of over $300,000. As commander of the Mili- 
tary Department of Porto Rico and the last military 
governor, I think I may not inappropriately say that the 
trust confided to the Army by the President and the 
people has not been abused, but instead, has been wisely 
and justly exercised in the interest and for the benefit of 
the inhabitants of this beautiful island/ 

"I concur in these statements," says Secretary Root, 
"and I wish to add to them an expression of grateful ap- 
preciation of the devotion, judgment, good temper, and 
ability exhibited by General Davis in the performance of 
his difficult duties, and of the faithful service of the 
officers of his command." 

The destruction of the Spanish fleet in the Harbor of 
Manila on May 1, 1898 thrust another serious and per- 
plexing problem upon the government of the United 
States. At that date all of its troops and military stores 
were being hastily concentrated on the southern Atlantic 
coast. Major General Merriam, commanding the De- 
partment of California took prompt and active measures 
to enlist volunteers from the Pacific Slope, the as- 
sembling place being San Francisco. General Otis and 
General Merritt exerted every faculty in organizing and 



230 OUR UNITED STATES 

equipping the "expeditionary forces," a problem fraught 
with extreme difficulty. 

"Suddenly called to meet an unexpected emergency in 
a distant portion of the world, no preparations had been 
made to receive them," writes General Otis, first Military 
Governor of the Philippines. "The supply departments, 
not anticipating any concentration of forces on the Pacific 
coast had made no provisions for furnishing arms, am- 
munition, clothing, subsistence, or other war material 
with which an army about to operate 7,000 miles from its 
base must necessarily be supplied. Indeed, at the time 
these troops arrived at San Francisco, such property, 
usually kept in moderate quantities on the Pacific coast, 
had been sent to the East for the army destined to invade 
Cuba and Porto Rico. The volunteer organizations were 
supposed to report equipped and uniformed, but a large 
majority of the arms they presented were worthless and 
in some instances entire organizations had to be rearmed. 
Their clothing had evidently been in use for a long time 
in State service, was worn out, and many of the men were 
dressed as civilians. In spite of all these embarrass- 
ments, the celerity with which these troops were equipped 
and made ready for the field, and with which great 
quantities of necessary supplies and war materials were 
placed in San Francisco and loaded on transports, fur- 
nished very satisfactory evidence of the efficiency of the 
staff department of the Army. Fortunately San Fran- 
cisco is a great market, and much that was needed could 
be obtained there through contract and purchase. The 
facilities thus offered were taken advantage of, and as- 
sisted very materially in the work of preparation. The 
shipping on the Pacific coast was found to be very limited, 
and vessels in any wise suited (even after they were over- 
hauled and repaired) to transport troops to the Tropics 



ARMY 231 

were few, and most of them were at the time absent, en- 
gaged in foreign or domestic trade. This want was the 
principal cause of delay in despatching troops, but the 
persistent efforts of the War Department assisted by the 
Army officers in San Francisco, accomplished the de- 
sired results very quickly, considering the embarrassments 
with which it had to contend. The time required for 
these preparations, however, was most advantageously 
employed. General officers, as soon as they reported for 
duty, were placed in charge of brigade organizations and 
labored assiduously in giving proper instructions to their 
commands, so that when these troops sailed for the 
Philippines they could be considered moderately efficient 

for service. . 

"With the officers of my staff," continued General Otis, 
"I accompanied the fourth expedition and arrived in the 
harbor of Manila on August 21, where we first learned 
of the operations of the 10,000 men who had preceded 
or accompanied General Merritt, and which had resulted 
in the surrender of Manila and its occupation by the 
United States forces on the 13th of that month." 

At this time the military situation was as follows: 
Under the articles of capitulation, United States oc- 
cupation was confined to the harbor, city and bay of 
Manila. Admiral Dewey, with his fleet, held the bay, 
also the naval establishment at Cavite which had been 
captured in May. The insurgent forces, commanded by 
General Aguinaldo, entered the city with our troops on 
August 13th, and actively held joint occupation with them 
over a considerable part of the southern portion of the 
same, declining to vacate on the plea, first, that they had 
served as allies with our troops, during the operations 
which had preceded the taking of the city, and therefore 
had the right to participate in the victory ; and secondly, 



232 OUR UNITED STATES 

that they wished to maintain all advantageous positions 
secured in order to resist successfully the troops of Spain, 
should that Government be permitted to resume its former 
power in the islands. Brigadier Generals Anderson and 
Mac Arthur were exercising immediate command of the 
troops — the former at Cavite and vicinity, where a small 
contingent was stationed and the latter at Manila, where 
the majority had been judiciously placed in barracks and 
other available buildings. General MacArthur, also, as 
provost-marshal-general, had charge of the police of that 
city and supervision of about 13,000 prisoners — Spanish 
and native — who had been surrendered by the Spanish 
authorities. These had been collected in the walled por- 
tion of the city and occupied, for the most part, its 
churches and convents. Outwardly peace reigned, but 
the insurgents, disappointed because not permitted to en- 
joy the spoils of war, in accordance with mediaeval cus- 
toms, and to exercise joint control of municipal affairs, 
were not friendly disposed and endeavored to obtain 
their asserted rights and privileges through controversy 
and negotiations and a stubborn holding of the positions 
taken by their troops. 

The difficulties and perplexities which confronted all 
officers appointed to conduct civil affairs were very great. 
The prisons were full to overflowing with convicted crim- 
inals and persons charged with crimes. Immediate at- 
tempts were made to relieve this congestion, and applica- 
tions of friends of those incarcerated, for their release, 
were constant. In the jail-deliveries which followed, al- 
though conducted after search of records obtainable at 
the time, a few of the most notorious criminals escaped. 
Subsequently greater care was exercised and each in- 
dividual case was made the subject of investigation, and 
even then when pardon accompanied by release was 



ARMY 233 

granted, this frequently followed for the return of em- 
bargoed estates, which presented very perplexing ques- 
tions for determination, involving a study of many Span- 
ish war measure decrees. 

The city government which was in operation at the 
time of surrender and the revenue measures practised 
for the support were the results of national, colonial and 
local decrees, orders and approved recommendations, 
more or less complicated, with amendatory features, un- 
codified, and running over a period of many years, pre- 
senting a system so complex that after the study of 
months it was not yet fully understood and certainly not 
appreciated. The monthly expenditures for the city have 
been double the amount of its receipts, but as all collec- 
tions of whatever nature made in the islands were de- 
posited with the general fund in the Treasury and money 
drawn therefrom on warrants as demands arose, no dif- 
ficulty was experienced. The chiefs of the supply de- 
partments and staff corps of the Army who had been 
directed to receive and receipt for the Spanish military 
stores when the prescribed lists should be presented, were 
obliged to rely solely upon their own efforts to discover 
this property, as no assistance was tendered by the officers 
of Spain. They were, it is believed, fairly successful in 
their persistent searches, took up and accounted for the 
property found, considerable of which such as clothing, 
subsistence, and medicines, were expended in the care of 
Spanish prisoners of war. The inventories which they 
made were very advantageous in the final settlement of 
United States and Spanish claims in regard to this class 
of property. General Merritt's orders and those which 
closely followed were based on the articles of capitula- 
tion, by which it was transferred to the United States, 
as information concerning the peace protocol of August 



234 OUR UNITED STATES 

12th, which held in abeyance all questions of property- 
rights pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace, had 
not been received. The fifth article of the Paris treaty 
of December 10th, returned to Spain all these army stores 
and property, and the inventories which our officers had 
taken constituted the basis of intelligent settlement with 
the representatives of that government under treaty 
stipulations, and in many instances enabled those repre- 
sentatives to formulate their demands. 

For three and one-half months Admiral Dewey with 
his squadron and the insurgents on land had kept Manila 
tightly bottled. All commerce had been interdicted, in- 
ternal trade paralyzed, and food supplies were nearly 
exhausted. Upon the opening of the port, merchants 
were clamoring for the re-establishment of inter-island 
commerce. They had advanced large amounts of money 
on their harvested crops of tobacco, hemp and sugar, 
which awaited at many points of the various shipment 
to Manila. No present relief could be furnished by the 
military authorities. The harbor was filled with Spanish 
shipping and that of other European countries. The 
United States was not represented by merchantmen of 
any character. Spain owned and was entitled to posses- 
sion of all Philippine territory, except temporary occu- 
pancy of the bay, harbor and city of Manila, although 
the insurgents had forcibly seized upon many cities and 
ports. 

Oct. 3, Capt. J. T. Evans of the volunteer subsistence 
department, who had been sent to the Philippines to 
assist in revenue matters was assigned to duty at the 
custom-house, his services to be temporarily confined to 
a careful consideration of trade conditions and an ex- 
haustive study of the United States customs and tariff 



ARMY 235 

regulations prescribed for application wiin a view of sug- 
gesting amendments and modifications therein, in order 
to render them practicable as possible to existing circum- 
stances. The entire labor of revision was imposed upon 
him and he performed it in a most satisfactory manner. 

With the entrance of the United States troops into Ma- 
nila and the opening up of that port, immigration became 
active. Business men from our own and other countries, 
studying the situation, were quite numerous. Members 
of the criminal classes, who always follow the wake of 
a conquering army, came from the American and Asiatic 
sea coasts, in large numbers. The native population of 
the city increased and was augmented by a considerable 
Chinese influx, most of which presented cedulas or cer- 
tificates of personal identity issued by the late Spanish 
Government in order to prove former residence in the 
islands as the United States Chinese exclusion law was 
directed to be applied. 

All these heterogeneous elements, including Aguinaldo's 
army and 14,000 United States troops quartered here, 
filled the city to repletion and gave the provost-marshal- 
general and his guards ample occupation. 

''Spanish authority had for centuries furnished the 
only controlling force for the maintenance of order in the 
Philippine Islands," writes Secretary Root in his report 
for 1900, ''and upon the destruction of the Spanish 
power the existing administration completely ceased to 
perform its functions and disappeared, leaving a great 
body of inhabitants, without training or capacity to or- 
ganize for self-control, absolutely without government. 
No substitute for the accustomed control was furnished 
under the Tagolog rule, which was built up in the first 
instance by our assistance, and afterwards under our 



236 OUR UNITED STATES 

sufferance, between the battle of Manila Bay, May 1, 
1898, and the assertion of our authority by the army 
which arrived in the islands in the autumn of 1899. 

'The military authorities, however, promptly com- 
menced the organization of civil administration, in which, 
as rapidly as practicable, all the ordinary functions of 
government were to be vested. 

"The Spanish criminal procedure in the islands had 
been exceedingly oppressive and regardless of personal 
rights, and native representatives in the new courts were 
very desirous to introduce as speedily as possible the 
privileges accorded by the laws of the United States to 
its citizens. 

"The next step in order of importance was the estab- 
lishment of municipal governments through which the 
people of the islands might control their own local affairs 
by officers of their own selection. 

"The law relating to marriages was modified, upon the 
general demand of the people, so as to permit civil mar- 
riage, and give to persons civilly married all the legal 
rights of those married by religious ceremony. 

"The patent and trade mark laws of the United States 
were in substance adopted in the islands. The coasting 
trade was regulated ; burdensome taxes imposed by Span- 
ish law were abolished; the schools, which were estab- 
lished immediately upon our occupation of Manila, were 
extended and improved; a quarantine law was enacted 
and put in force ; the customs and insular revenues were 
greatly increased and a rigid high license and early clos- 
ing law was enforced upon the saloons in the city of 
Manila. 

"In April of this year," continues Secretary Root, "the 
second Philippine commission of which Hon. William H. 
Taft, of Ohio; Prof. Dean C. Worcester, of Michigan; 



ARMY 237 

Hon. Luke I. Wright, of Tennessee; Hon. Henry C. Ide, 
of Vermont, and Prof. Bernard Moses, of California, 
were members, sailed for Manila with the powers of civil 
government prescribed in the instructions of April 

7, 1900. 

"After devoting several months to famiharizing them- 
selves with the conditions in the islands, this commission, 
on the 1st of September, 1900, entered upon the dis- 
charge of the extensive legislative powers and the specific 
powers of appointment conferred upon them in the in- 
structions and continued to exercise all that part of the 
military power of the President in the Philippines which 
is legislative in its character, leaving the military gover- 
nor still the chief executive of the islands, the action of 
both being duly reported to this Department for the 
President's consideration and approval." 

The enormous volume of business passing through the 
Headquarters of the Military Governor during the year 
1900 can only be appreciated by a careful study of the 
reports of the Department Commanders and those from 
the office of the Military Secretary. 

"The complex details arising from the domestic and 
civil affairs of a population of seven or eight millions of 
people, all find focus in this office," says General 
MacArthur, Military Governor, "and when it is recalled 
that most of the subordinate civil officers reporting 
thereto are conducted by officers of the Army, detached 
for special duty, it impresses the idea of the versatility 
of that branch of the public service. From the Supreme 
Court down, Army officers are found everywhere in the 
civil service, and not only so, but doing the novel and 
exacting work in an efficient, and, in many instances, 
in a masterly manner. It would be difficult to express 

adequate appreciation of the services rendered and it is 



238 OUB UNITED STATES 

therefore a great pleasure to assure the Department of 
the fidelity and zeal of all concerned." 

In Major General MacArthur's report for 1901 are 
outlined the motives which led to the Philippine insur- 
rection, carried on under the most annoying forms of 
guerrilla warfare. The uncertainty of our Govern- 
mental policy as to the permanent retention of these dis- 
tant islands ; the unrest and apprehension felt by a large 
population of ignorant and suspicious natives, the dom- 
ination of native military insurgents combined to produce 
a state of disorganization and hostility and open defiance 
of American authority. 

Several months before the formal disbandment of the 
insurgent field forces in November, 1899, the Philippine 
military leaders had been obliged to accept an attitude of 
inferiority, and as a consequence thereof, they adopted 
what might be described as a modified Fabian policy, 
which was based upon the idea of occupying a series of 
strong defensive positions and therefrom presenting just 
enough resistance to force the American Army to a 
never-ending repetition of tactical deployments. 

This policy was carried out with considerable skill and 
was for a time partially successful as the native army 
was thus enabled to hover within easy distance of the 
American camps, and at the same time avoid close com- 
bat. When the offensive action of the campaign became 
rapid, the native army, in order to avoid capture or de- 
struction, was obliged to disband, but as the dissolution 
was accomplished in accordance with a deliberate and 
pre-arranged plan, it was not attended with large loss of 
life in battle. 

It has since been ascertained that the expediency of 
adopting guerrilla warfare from the inception of hostili- 
ties was seriously discussed by the native leaders, and ad- 



ARMY 239 

vocated with much emphasis as the system best adapted to 
the pecuHar conditions of the struggle. It was finally de- 
termined, however, that a concentrated field army, con- 
ducting regular operations, would in the event of suc- 
cess, attract the favorable attention of the world, and be 
accepted as a practical demonstration of capacity for or- 
ganization and self-government. The disbandment of 
the field army, therefore, having been a subject of con- 
templation from the start, the actual event, in pursuance 
of the deliberate action of the council of war, in Bayam- 
bang about Nov. 12, 1899, was not regarded by Filipinos 
in the light of a calamity but simply as a transition from 
one form of action to another, a change which by many 
was regarded as a positive advantage and was relied 
upon to accomplish more effectively the end in view. 

To this end the leaders announced a primal and in- 
flexible principle to the effect that every native without 
exception residing within the limits of the Archipelago 
owed active individual allegiance to the insurgent cause. 
This jurisdiction was enjoined under severe penalties 
which were systematically enforced, not only within in- 
surgent territory but also within the limits of American 
garrisons. By means of secret committees residing in or 
sent to the towns, contributions of all kinds were col- 
lected and sent to the field, and punishments, including 
capital executions were administered without resistance 
on the part of the victim, by reason of a strange com- 
bination of loyalty, apathy, ignorance, and timidity. 
This policy was generally accepted ; and as a consequence 
the military leaders enjoyed a very extensive co-operation 
of the whole mass of Filipino people in support of their 
movements. This joint action was very effective in re- 
spect to all matters touching intelligence and supply and 
also in the innumerable little details connected with the 



240 OUR UNITED STATES 

daily service of troops in campaign, and with regard to 
which a good understanding with the inhabitants gives 
such an enormous advantage. 

The cohesion of FiHpino society in behalf of insurgent 
interests is most emphatically illustrated by the fact that 
assassination which was extensively enjoyed, was gener- 
ally accepted as a legitimate expression of insurgent gov- 
ernmental authority. The individual marked for death, 
would not appeal to American protection, although con- 
demned exclusively on account of supposed pro-Ameri- 
canism, or give information calculated to insure their 
own safety, even when such procedure could easily be 
accomplished by means of conferences with American 
commanders, who in many instances were stationed in 
the barrios where the victims reside. 

The amnesty, which expired Sept. 21, 1900 had not 
produced any useful effect, and by Dec. 1, 1900 it was 
apparent that expectation based upon the result of the 
presidential election in the United States would not be 
realized. Conditions were plainly likely to become chron- 
ic, unless some remedy could be devised capable of ready 
application with the means at hand and calculated to pro- 
duce an immediate effect in amelioration of the situation. 

An entirely new campaign was therefore determined 
upon, based upon the central idea of detaching the towns 
from the immediate support of the guerrillas in the field, 
and thus also precluding the indirect support which arose 
from indiscriminate acceptance by the towns of the in- 
surrection in all its devious ramifications. 

In prosecuting field operations against the concen- 
trated forces of the rebellion, the people of the country, 
especially those living in towns, had rarely been inter- 
fered with, even when suspected of giving aid and as- 



ARMY 241 

sistance to the army enemy. Prisoners taken in battle 
were disarmed and immediately released. This policy 
was adhered to with uniform consistency for nearly two 
years in the hope that such conciliatory action would in 
time turn the natives into friendly neighbours, alike to 
their advantage and to that of the United States. 

As a consequence of centuries of monarchial colonial 
administration, the people of these islands are suspicious 
of, rather than grateful for, any declared or even prac- 
tised governmental beneficence, and in this particular in- 
stance they undoubtedly looked upon the lenient attitude 
of the United States as indicating conscious weakness, 
which in itself was sufficient to induce grave doubt as to 
the wisdom of siding with such a power; especially, so, as 
the United States had made no formal announcement of 
an inflexible purpose to hold the Archipelago, and afford 
protection to pro-Americans by proclaiming a legal and 
constitutional right, as well as a determined purpose, to 
act accordingly. 

As preliminary to more vigorous field operation and in 
assistance of the same, it was considered expedient to 
clear up such misleading views referred to above as 
came clearly and exclusively within the scope of military 
administration. Fortunately most of the matters de- 
manding discussion fell directly within the operations of 
well-known prescriptions of laws of war which touch 
government of occupied places. 

Accordingly, these were amplified, formulated and ex- 
pounded to the Filipino people and all residents of the 
Archipelago. The proclamation in which this was pro- 
mulgated was printed in each of the 13 newspapers 
published in Manila, in English, Spanish and Tagalog 
languages. 

"To successfully contend against this condition and to 



242 OUR UNITED STATES 

suppress it," writes the Secretary of War, "to afford pro- 
tection to the peaceful and unarmed inhabitants, and to 
re-estabhsh local civil governments had necessitated the 
distribution of our forces to more than 400 stations. 
The scattered guerrilla insurgent bands obtained funds 
and supplies from the towns and country in the vicinity 
of their operations. The people thus contributing to the 
support of these guerrillas had been rarely interfered 
with. Prisoners taken in battle had been disarmed and 
immediately released. This policy had been adhered to 
in the hope that it might make friendly neighbours of the 
natives, but, on the contrary they seemed suspicious of 
this beneficence and looked upon it as an evidence of 
weakness. It was therefore decided to apply more 
rigidly to the residents of the Archipelago the laws of 
war touching the government of occupied places. No- 
tice of this intention was given by a proclamation issued 
by the military governor December 20, 1900, fully ex- 
plaining the law, supplemented by letters of instruction, 
and followed by more vigorous field operations. It was 
followed immediately by the deportation to the island of 
Guam of about fifty prominent Filipino insurgent army 
officers, civil officials, insurgent agents, sympathizers and 
agitators. 

"There was at one time in the public press and on the 
floor of Congress," continues Mr. Root in his official re- 
port for 1902, "much criticism of the conduct of the 
Army in the Philippines, as being cruel and inhuman. 
All wars are cruel. This conflict consisted chiefly of 
guerrilla warfare. It lasted for some three years and a 
half and extended over thousands of miles of territory. 
Over 120,000 men were engaged upon our side and a 
much greater number upon the other, and we were fight- 
ing against enemies who totally disregarded the law§ of 



ARMY 243 

civilized warfare, and who were guilty of the most 
atrocious treachery and inhuman cruelty. 

"It was impossible that some individuals should not be 
found upon our side who were unnecessarily and un- 
justifiably cruel. Such instances, however, after five 
months of searching investigation by a committee of the 
Senate, who took some three thousand printed pages 
of testimony, appear to have been comparatively few, 
and they were in violation of strict orders, obedience 
to which characterized the conduct of the army as a 
whole. 

"The two observers who, as the heads of the civil gov- 
ernment in the Philippines, had the best opportunities 
for information, and at the same time were naturally free 
from any military bias, have given what I believe to be 
a true statement of the character of our military opera- 
tions." 

Vice-Governor Luke E. Wright says in a letter writ- 
ten on the 20th of July, 1902 : 

"General Chaffee, as a matter of course, had no pa- 
tience with any acts of oppression or cruelty, and when- 
ever his attention has been called to them has at once 
taken proper steps. The howl against the Army has 
been made mainly for political purposes, and the cruel- 
ties practiced have been largely exaggerated. Of course, 
numerous instances of this character have occurred. 
There never was and never will be a war of which the 
same may not be said ; but taken as a whole, and when 
the character of the warfare here is considered, I think 
the officers and men of the American Army have been 
forbearing and humane in their dealings with the na- 
tives, and the attempt to create a contrary impression is 
not only unjust to them, but, it seems, to me, unpatriotic 
as well." 



244 OUR UNITED STATES 

Governor Taft, in his testimony under oath before the 
PhiHppine Committee of the Senate said : 

"After a good deal of study about the matter (and 
although I have never been prejudiced in favor of the 
military branch, for when the civil and military branches 
are exercising concurrent jurisdiction there is some in- 
evitable friction), I desire to say that it is my deliberate 
judgment that there never was a war conducted, whether 
against inferior races or not, in which there was more 
compassion and more restraint and more generosity, as- 
suming that there was war at all, than there have been in 
the Philippine Islands." 



CHAPTER XIV 
Eradication of Disease by Army Medical Staff 

A FAR reaching result of the cleaning up of Havana by 
the American Army was the eradication of yellow fever, 
which for two hundred years had been the curse of the 
West Indies, of Central and South America. The econ- 
omical waste both in lives and property by the ravages 
of the dread disease can hardly be approximated. It has 
been estimated that 500,000 cases of yellow fever existed 
in the United States alone between 1793 and 1900. 

The problem had long occupied the attention of lead- 
ing medical men of the world, theories had been ad- 
vanced, investigations carried on, remedies offered and 
protective inoculations instituted, but for the reason that 
the organism of yellow fever is invisible to the micro- 
scope, these investigations had been unsuccessful and the 
remedies applied alleviated but did not eradicate the 
disease. 

Surgeon General Sternberg, U. S. A., had given many 
years to the conscientious study of yellow fever. Con- 
sidered a leading authority on the subject he had made 
under the direction of the President of the United States, 
laborious investigations as to its cause in Havana, Brazil 
and Mexico. The claim of Sanarelli, of Buenos Aires, 
to have discovered the cause of yellow fever in the ba- 
cillus icteroides, prompted Surgeon-General Sternburg to 
investigate the claim and to this end he ordered Major 

245 



246 OUR UNITED STATES 

Walter Reed, at the time professor of bacteriology in the 
Army Medical School, to study this organism in connec- 
tion with an organism discovered by Sternberg and 
named by him bacillus X. 

In June, 1900, Major Reed was appointed president 
of a board to study infectious diseases, but more es- 
pecially yellow fever. Associated with him were Acting 
Assistant Surgeons James Carroll, Jesse W. Lazear and 
A. Agramonte. 

"At this time the American authorities in Cuba had for 
a year and a half endeavored to diminish the disease and 
mortality of the Cuban towns," writes Colonel McCaw, 
"by general sanitary work, but while the health of the 
population showed distinct improvement and the mor- 
tality had greatly diminished, yellow fever apparently 
had been entirely unaffected by these measures. In fact, 
owing to the large number of non-immune foreigners, 
the disease was more frequent than usual in Havana and 
in Quenados near the camp of American troops, and 
many valuable lives of American officials and soldiers 
had been lost. Reed was convinced from the first that 
general sanitary measures alone would not check the dis- 
ease but that its transmission was probably due to an 
insect. 

"The fact that malarial fever, caused by an animal par- 
asite in the blood, is transmitted from man to man 
through the agency of certain mosquitoes had been re- 
cently accepted by the scientific world ; also several years 
before, Dr. Carlos Finlay, of Havana, had advanced the 
theory that a mosquito conveyed the unknown cause of 
yellow fever, but did not succeed in demonstrating it — 
the truth of his theory. 

"Dr. H. R. Carter, of the Marine Hospital Service, had 
written a paper showing that although the period of in- 



ARMY 247 

cubation of yellow fever was only five days, yet a house 
to which a patient was carried did not become infected 
for from fifteen to twenty days. To Reed's mind this 
indicated that the unknown infective agent has to un- 
dergo a period of incubation of from ten to fifteen days, 
and probably in the body of a biting insect. 

"In June, July and August, 1900, the commission gave 
their entire attention to the bacteriological study of the 
blood of yellow fever patients, and the post mortem ex- 
amination of the organs of those dying with the dis- 
ease." 

"Application was made to General Leonard Wood, the 
Military Governor of Cuba, for permission to conduct 
experiments on non-immune persons, and a liberal sum 
of money requested for the purpose of rewarding vol- 
unteers who would submit themselves to experiment. 
It was indeed fortunate," continues Colonel McCaw, 
"that the military governor of Cuba was a man who by 
his breadth of mind and special scientific training could 
readily appreciate the arguments of Major Reed as to 
the value of the proposed work. Money and full au- 
thority to proceed were promptly granted and to the 
everlasting glory of the American soldier, volunteers 
from the army offered themselves for experiment in 
plenty, and with the utmost fearlessness. 

"Before the arrangements were entirely completed. Dr. 
Carroll, a member of the commission, allowed himself 
to be bitten by a mosquito that twelve days previously 
had filled itself with the blood of a yellow fever patient. 
He suffered from a very severe attack, and his was the 
first experimental case. Dr. Lazear also experimented 
on himself at the same time, but was not infected. Some 
days later, while in the yellow fever ward, he was bitten 
by a mosquito and noted the fact carefully. He acquired 



248 OUR UNITED STATES 

the disease in its most terrible form and died a martyr 
to science and a true hero. No other fatality occurred 
among the brave men who, in the course of the experi- 
ments, willingly exposed themselves to infection of the 
dread disease. 

"A camp was especially constructed for the experi- 
ments about four miles from Havana, christened Camp 
Lazear in honor of the dead comrade." 

Kissinger and Moran, privates, were the first to vol- 
unteer as subjects for experiments. 

Senate report No. 210 contains a full statement of the 
services of John Kissinger, who to use his own words 
volunteered "solely in the interest of humanity and the 
cause of science" ; one of the bravest soldiers who served 
in the Spanish American war. For exhibition of moral 
courage, his submission to inoculation of yellow fever 
seems unsurpassed. In 1910 he was a helpless paralytic, 
unable to walk, and totally disabled for any kind of em- 
ployment, his ailment being a disease of the spine, as the 
results of experiments made upon him when he volun- 
teered to become a subject for experimental purposes in 
the yellow fever hospital in Cuba. 

On page 139 in the life of Walter Reed, published by 
McClure, Phillips & Company, is the following paragraph 
in regard to this soldier: 

"When it became known among the troops that sub- 
jects were needed for experimental purposes, Kissinger, 
in company with another young private named John J. 
Moran, volunteered their services. Doctor Reed talked 
the matter over with them, explaining fully the danger 
and suffering involved in the experiment should it be 
successful, and then, seeing they were determined, he 
stated that a definite money compensation would be made 
them. Both young men declined to accept it, making it, 



ARMY 249 

indeed, their sole stipulation that they should receive no 
pecuniary reward, whereupon Major Reed touched his 
cap, saying respectfully, 'Gentlemen, I salute you.' 
Reed's own words in his published account of the experi- 
ment on Kissinger are, In my opinion this exhibition of 
moral courage has never been surpassed in the annals of 
the Army of the United States.' Likewise Mr. Moran's 
action was dictated by the purest motives of altruism and 
self-devotion. He disclaimed, before submitting to the 
experiments, any desire for reward, and has never ac- 
cepted any since, although he was offered the $200 which 
the liberality of the military governor enabled the com- 
mission to give each experimental, patient, the members 
of the board excepted. Such was his modesty that he 
has made no effort to make known his connection with 
these experiments and reap the credit which is so justly 
due him. After leaving Cuba he completed his educa- 
tion by a course of study at the University of Virginia 
and in 1908 was living in Panama, in the employ of the 
Isthmian Canal Commission." 

The mosquitoes used were specially bred from the eggs 
and kept in a building screened by wire netting. When 
an insect was wanted for an experiment it was taken into 
a yellow fever hospital and allowed to fill itself with the 
blood of a patient; afterward at varying intervals fropi 
the time of this meal of blood it was purposely applied 
to non-immunes in camp. 

In December five cases of the disease were developed 
as the result of such applications ; in January, three, and 
in February two, making in all ten, exclusive of the cases 
of Drs. Carroll and Lazear. Immediately upon the ap- 
pearance of the first recognized symptoms of the dis- 
ease, in any one of these experimental cases, the patient 
was taken from Camp Lazear to a yellow fever hospital, 



250 OUB UNITED STATES 

one mile distant. Every person in camp was rigidly pro- 
tected from accidental mosquito bites, and not in a single 
instance did yellow fever develop in the camp, except at 
the will of the experimenters. 

A completely mosquito-proof building was divided 
into two compartments by a wire screen partition ; in- 
fected insects were liberated on one side only. A brave 
non-immune entered and remained long enough to allow 
himself to be bitten several times. He was attacked by 
yellow fever, while two susceptible men in the other 
compartment did not acquire the disease, although 
sleeping there thirteen nights. This demonstrates in the 
simplest and most certain manner that the infectious- 
ness of the building was due only to the presence of 
insects. 

Every attempt was made to infect individuals by 
means of bedding, clothes, and other articles that had 
been used and soiled by patients suffering with virulent 
yellow fever. Volunteers slept in the room with and 
handled the most filthy articles for twenty nights, but 
not a symptom of yellow fever was noted among them, 
nor was their health in the slightest degree affected. 
Nevertheless they were not immune to the disease, for 
some of them were afterwards purposely infected by 
mosquito bites. This experiment indicated at once the 
uselessness of destroying valuable property for fear of 
infection. Had the people of the United States known 
this one fact a hundred years ago, an enormous amount 
of money would have been saved to householders. 

Suffice to briefly sum up the principal conclusions of 
this admirable board of investigators of which Reed was 
the mastermind : 

1. The specific agent in the causation of yellow fever 
exists in the blood of a patient for the first three days 



ARMY 251 

of his attack, after which time he ceases to be a menace 
to the health of others. 

2. A mosquito of a single species, Stegomyia fasciata, 
investing the blood of a patient during this infective 
period, is powerless to convey the disease to another per- 
son by its bite until about twelve days has elapsed, but 
can do so thereafter for an indefinite period, probably 
during the remainder of its life. 

3. The disease cannot in nature be spread in any 
other way than by the bite of the previously infected 
Stegomyia. Articles used and soiled by patients do not 
carry infection. 

"In February, 1901, the Chief Sanitary Officer in Ha- 
vana, Major W. C. Gorgas, Medical Department U. S. 
Army, instituted measures to eradicate the disease, based 
entirely on the conclusions of the commission," writes 
Colonel McCaw. "Cases of yellow fever were required 
to be reported as promptly as possible, the patient was 
at first rigidly isolated, and immediately upon the report 
a force of men from the sanitary department visited the 
house. All the rooms of the buildings and of the neigh- 
bouring houses were sealed and fumigated to destroy the 
mosquitoes present. Window and door screens were put 
up, and after the death or recovery of the patient, his 
room was fumigated and every mosquito destroyed. A 
war of extermination was also waged against mosquitoes 
in general, and an energetic efifort was made to diminish 
the number bred by draining standing water, screening 
tanks and vessels, using petroleum on water that could 
not be drained, and in the most systematic manner de- 
stroying the breeding places of the insects." 

As early as 1902 Major Gorgas while stationed at 
Havana had written to Surgeon General Sternberg con- 
cerning the discoveries of the Reed Board and the appli- 



252 OUR UNITED STATES 

cation of these discoveries in eradicating yellow fever 
from Havana, and inviting attention to the fact that they 
would have a most important bearing upon the con- 
struction of the Panama Canal. 

General Sternberg approved the idea and the same 
year Major Gorgas was ordered back to the United 
States that he might be in close touch with the prepara- 
tions for the Canal work. 

While waiting for the organization to commence he 
was sent to Egypt as the representative of the Medical 
Department of the United States Army to the first Egyp- 
tian Medical Congress, and thus had an opportunity to 
inform himself of the conditions which had existed dur- 
ing the building of the Suez Canal. Later he was sent 
as representative of the United States Army Medical De- 
partment to the Hygiene Congress which met in Paris, 
France, in October 1903, where he collected a great deal 
of valuable data with regard to the sanitary conditions 
existing at Panama during the French regime. 

The Isthmian Canal Commission was organized by the 
President in January, 1904, and in March of the same 
year Dr. Gorgas was ordered to accompany the Commis- 
sion to Panama as their sanitary adviser. 

The formal transference of the Canal Zone from the 
French to the United States did not take place until May 
4, 1904, so that the serious work of sanitation was not 
inaugurated until June. 

With $50,000 worth of supplies and the personnel 
brought down at the same time the tremendous task of 
cleaning up the isthmus was begun. 

Yellow fever being the greatest plague on the isthmus, 
a war was waged against the extermination of the deadly 
mosquito, at the two great terminals. Colon and Panama 
City. 



ARMY 253 

The manner of Mosquito Destruction adopted by Dr. 
Gorgas in his admirable sanitary measures in the Canal 
Zone was based on the following rules. Houses were 
fumigated with insect powder and sulphur. The screen- 
ing of windows and doors with fine netting was insti- 
tuted to prevent the passage of mosquitoes. The care- 
ful screening of the beds of fever patients or suspects. 

As most mosquitoes breed in water — usually in arti- 
ficial collections of fresh water and live in the vicinity 
in which they breed, coal oil was used on the surface of 
the water to prevent the wrigglers from coming to the 
surface to breathe, thereby destroying them. Water 
from rain barrels, tubs, buckets, cans, flower pots, vases 
was ordered emptied every forty-eight hours. Pools, 
ditches, and post holes were filled in to prevent stagnant 
pools from forming. The water in chicken coops and 
kennels was ordered changed daily. 

All standing water which could not be screened or 
drained was treated with coal oil. Gold fish and min- 
nows were introduced where it was undesirable to put 
oil, such as watering troughs for stock, etc. Vacant lots 
and yards were cleaned of cans, tins, bottles, etc. 
Weeds, grass and bushes about ditches and ponds were 
cleared away, and oil was placed in gutters, ditches, cul- 
verts, manholes and catch basins. In fact after all 
places that were known to breed mosquitoes had been 
treated, work was carried on where they might breed. 

''We carried fumigation in Panama, however, much 
further than we had ever dreamed of doing at Havana," 
writes Dr. Gorgas. "Besides carrying out the method 
which we had developed at Havana of fumigating the 
house where a case of yellow fever had occurred, to- 
gether with all the contiguous houses, we adopted the 
following plan: 



254 OUR UNITED STATES 

"Panama compared with Havana was a very small 
town. Havana in 1904 had a population of 250,000; 
Panama about 20,000. Instead of waiting for the slow 
process of fumigating the house where a yellow fever 
case occurred, with the contiguous houses, and thereby 
killing the infected mosquitoes concerned in that partic- 
ular case, we ought to be able, we said, in a small town 
like Panama to fumigate every house in the city within 
a comparatively short time, and thereby get rid of all the 
infected mosquitoes at one fell swoop. 

"This would certainly have been the result if our pre- 
mises had been correct, namely, that it was the fumigation 
that had caused the disappearance of yellow fever at 
Havana. With this object in view, we commenced at 
one end of the city and fumigated every building. It 
took us about a month to get over the whole town. 
Cases of yellow fever still continued to occur after we 
had finished. We therefore went through the procedure 
a second time. Still other cases occurred, and we went 
over the city a third time. We used up in these fumiga- 
tions in the course of about a year some hundred and 
twenty tons of insect powder, and some other hundred 
tons of sulphur. These quantities of material give some 
idea of the amount of fumigation." 

The persistence and efficiency of the Sanitary Depart- 
ment, in spite of outside scepticism and discouragement 
won the fight against the destructive agencies of disease 
and by November, 1905, the last case of yellow fever oc- 
curred in Panama. 

"This fact," writes Dr. Gorgas, "quieted alarm on the 
Isthmus, and gave the sanitary officials great prestige, not 
only among the now large body of Canal employes, but 
also among the native population living on the Isthmus. 

"In looking back over our ten years of work," he con- 



ARMY 255 

tinues, "these two years 1905 and 1906 seem the halcyon 
days for the Sanitary Department. It was really during 
this period that our work was accomplished. By the 
fall of 1907 about all of our sanitary work had been com- 
pleted. Our fight against disease in Panama had been 
won, and from that time on our attention was given to 
holding what had been accomplished." 

In anticipation of at least 50,000 employes on the 
Canal Zone and estimating that it was likely that fifty 
per thousand of such employes would be sick Colonel 
Gorgas ably assisted by Dr. John W. Ross of the United 
States Navy and Major Louis A. La Garde of the United 
States Army immediately set about liberal provision for 
their care in properly equipped hospitals. 

At Ancon and Colon large hospitals were maintained 
with smaller hospitals, rest camps and dispensaries along 
the entire length of the Canal. 

At laboga a large sanitarium was maintained to assist 
the recuperation of those who had recovered sufficiently 
to leave the hospitals. 

It is a matter of congratulation that during the year 
1913 when the maximum force was employed on the 
Isthmus the constant sick rate was only about twenty- 
two per thousand. 

It will be borne in mind that at the same time that 
yellow fever was being eradicated from the Canal Zone 
an attack was also being made upon malaria. 

This work was carried on along exactly the same lines 
as in the city of Havana. The country along the line of 
the Canal between the two termini, Colon and Panama, 
was entirely different and as new conditions and as new 
problems arose they were met with equal skill and ex- 
pediency. 

One of the most vital of sanitary precautions taken on 



256 OUR UNITED STATES 

the Isthmus was the segregation of lepers. "We estab- 
lished a colony," writes Dr. Gorgas, "on a beautifully lo- 
cated peninsula running out into the bay of Panama, and 
almost as much isolated as if it were on an island. Here 
they could have their gardens, chickens, fruit trees, etc. 
The location is naturally one of the prettiest on the 
bay. 

"We now have there some fifty lepers, who are living 
contented and happy. We have a white male trained 
nurse in general charge, a white female trained nurse in 
charge of the women, and some four or five other em- 
ployes. We have a teacher for the children, and the 
lepers are always employed for any work of which they 
are capable, and are paid for this work so as to encour- 
age them to seek it. 

"Dr. Henry R. Garten devoted a great deal of time and 
attention to the establishment of this colony, and it was 
due to his painstaking personal care that the matter 
turned out so successfully." 

It has been well said that "Not since the Science of 
Healing opened its doors to the Science of Prevention 
have physicians scored a greater victory in their fight 
against diseases and death than on the Isthmus of Pan- 
ama. Not only did they help to build the Ganal ; they 
demonstrated that tropical diseases are capable of human 
control and thereby opened up a vista of hope undreamed 
of to all that sweltering and suffering mass of humanity 
that inhabits the Torrid Zone." 

Upon the outbreak of the Spanish American war, a 
young medical officer, Dr. Bailey K. Ashford, a graduate 
of the Georgetown University, who had recently entered 
the Army and finished his post-graduate course at the 
Army Medical School in Washington, was ordered to 
Porto Rico. 



ARMY 257 

At the time of the American invasion sanitary laws 
were unknown on the Island. At the close of the war 
with Spain there was great destitution and suffering 
among the masses owing to the general poverty and fail- 
ure of the crops. The ravages of the unprecedented 
hurricane of August, 1899, in which over 2,500 lives were 
lost, the destruction of the customary food supplies and 
the substitution therefor of other articles, resulted in a 
large per cent, of deaths from anaemia, supposedly pre- 
cipitated by starvation. 

Dr. Ashford was placed in a large field hospital to aid 
in caring for the sufferers. Abundant food failed to re- 
store to health those suffering from anaemia and there- 
fore Dr. Ashford came to the conclusion that some other 
cause was at the basis of this prevalent condition. His 
attention was called to the rapid rise in mortality which 
in 1900 reached 30 per cent, of all deaths and he observed 
that most cases developed in the "peon" class of the pop- 
ulation, the fatalities being especially great in the rural 
districts. These peons comprise about three-fourths of 
the population, live in miserable hovels and subsist on the 
poorest quality of food. Having little power of resist- 
ance they succumb rapidly to disease. Up to this time 
there seemed to have been no effort made by resident 
physicians to investigate the cause of so large a mor- 
tality. 

In describing the daily life among the working classes, 
Dr. Ashford writes in his report, 1899: 

"They rise at from 4 to 6 A. M. Some take a little 
black coffee, some boiled water and sugar, some nothing. 
They work till 11, when they breakfast on about 4 ounces 
of codfish, and a few pieces of plantain. They return to 
work at one and continue till five p. m. Dinner is com- 
posed of rice and beans, some have only boiled rice with 



258 OUR UNITED STATES 

lard, and some boiled rice alone. It may be mentioned 
that they get plenty of bad rum and some bad wine. 
This seems a slight enough diet, but the hurricane de- 
prived them of even this, and the sick poor came drifting 
down on Ponce. I believe it not probable that those de- 
graded to the level of people whose life is bounded by a 
tropical plantation, enjoying little beyond the cutting of 
cane and the picking of coffee, can have a high standard 
of personal cleanliness, and, as a fact, bathing is not 
often practiced." 

Dr. Ashford made microscopical examinations and dis- 
covered ankylostoma or hook worm, a parasite known to 
have caused a similar condition in other tropical coun- 
tries. At Ponce, in December, 1899, Dr. Ashford made 
what has proved to be the first announcement of the ex- 
istence of ankylostoma on the islands. 

The hook worm disease, due to soil pollution, is caused 
by small round worms of different species, which attack 
various animals, man, dogs, cattle, sheep, swine, etc., but 
the forms which occur in man are peculiar to man and do 
not reach maturity in our domesticated animals, neither 
do the forms which occur in the latter develop to ma- 
turity in man. 

The New World hook worm is a slender worm about 
half an inch long and scarcely thicker than a small sized 
hair pin. In its adult stage the parasite lives in the small 
intestine, especially in the upper half, occasionally also 
in the stomach. It attaches itself to the intestinal wall, 
sucks the blood, eats the epitheleum, and apparently pro- 
duces a poisonous substance. 

Dr. Ashford demonstrated that the hook worm entered 
the body through the cuticle of persons going barefoot 
on the islands, or may be taken into the body from un- 
washed fruits or vegetables. The larvae burrow into the 



ARMY 259 

human flesh under the nails or any other accessible part, 
through the hair folicles or through the pores. 

The result of Dr. Ashford's researches was the ap- 
pointment of the Porto Rico Anaemia Commission in 
February, 1904, by the Legislature of Porto Rico, and an 
appropriation of $5,000 the first year, $15,000 the sec- 
ond and $50,000 in 1906 for the purpose of eradicating 
the disease from the islands. 

The original members of this commission comprised 
Captain and Asst. Surg. B. K. Ashford, Dr. Pedro 
Gutierrez and Past Assistant Surg. W. W. King of the 
Marine Hospital Service. Under authority from the 
United States War Department practically all the camp 
equipment was loaned to the commission by the military 
authorities in San Juan. 

The location selected for the first camp was at Baya- 
mon, P. R., near the local city hospital. The camp con- 
sisted of ten tents, eight tents of six beds, one dining 
room tent, and one administration tent. 

The worst patients were admitted only for three or 
four days while thymol was being administered. Some 
few had to be kept for a short time longer. Most pa- 
tients were given their medicine to take at their homes. 

During the first two months, March and April, 1904, 
937 cases of anaemia were examined and treated. 

When the commission began its work there was openly 
expressed scepticism among both physicians and laity. 

The simple treatment by the administration of thymol 
had beneficial results and in addition to being cured, the 
patient was given some instruction as to the means of 
prevention. A few plain explanations were given as to 
the cause of the disease, how it was contracted, and how 
to prevent reinfection. Specimens of the parasite were 
shown, and a small pamphlet containing these explana- 



260 OUR UNITED STATES 

tions in simple language was given to those who could 
read or had any one to read to them. 

Every effort had been made by the commission to in- 
duce the natives to wear shoes, to take measures for 
greater personal cleanliness and proper house sanitation. 

In November, 1910, the total number of persons 
treated in Porto Rico had reached 287,000, of which 40 
to 50 per cent, were completely cured. 

The importance and far reaching results of Major 
Ashford's discovery is, in the opinion of Dr. C. W. Stiles, 
a leading authority on the subject and a member of the 
Rockefeller Sanitary Commission for the Eradication of 
Hookworm Disease, one of the most important results 
of the Spanish American War. 

The sanitary and economic importance of the work 
done at the instigation of Major Ashford in Porto Rico 
is likened to the work of the yellow fever commission 
in Cuba. 

It will be recalled that the Rockefeller fund of $1,000,- 
000 was given in October, 1909, for the eradication 
of the disease in the United States and especially in the 
Southern States where it is very prevalent. 

At the invitation of the Rockefeller Foundation Dr. 
Ashford made a journey to Brazil in January, 1916, as a 
member of the International Health Commission for the 
purpose of studying the health conditions of Brazil. 
The result of valuable services was the hearty co-opera- 
tion of the Brazilian authorities in a movement to eradi- 
cate uncinariasis and other tropical diseases from that 
country. 

The epidemic of Asiatic Cholera which broke out in 
the Philippines in 1902 was brought to a successful ter- 
mination in 1904. The devastations of this plague had 
reached the appalling number of 300,000 deaths, over 



ARMY 261 

one-twentieth of the population of the islands being 
destroyed in little over a year. The skilful and deter- 
rnined war waged by United States Medical officers not 
only by those on duty with the Army, but those on duty 
with the civil government brought the frightful epidemic 
under control. Recognizing the fact that the disease is 
introduced into a community only by another case, by 
water or by certain food products, strict quarantine was 
established on all incoming shipping. Fumigation and 
extermination of vermin, especially rats, the insistence 
upon isolation of cases and proper sanitation of com- 
munities, though greatly impeded by the ignorance and 
superstition of the natives, nevertheless the campaign 
against the disease was finally crowned with success and 
many thousands of lives were saved. 

The work accomplished by the Board for the Study of 
Tropical Diseases as they occur in the Philippine Islands 
has been of a very high order ; though the nature of their 
investigations has been such as not to show immediate 
results in the control of disease, they have been of much 
scientific importance. Among other things the board 
has been the first to demonstrate that dengue, which is 
so prevalent in the Philippine Islands, is carried by the 
mosquito of a certain species, thus pointing the way to 
its successful prevention. 

Following the great earthquake and fire which nearly 
destroyed the city of San Francisco on April 18, 1906, 
and the days following, most admirable sanitary and 
emergency work was done by the officers and men of the 
Medical Corps under the able direction of Lieut. Colonel 
Torney, who upon the request of the mayor of the city 
was placed at the head of a joint committee of the city, 
state and federal authorities to control the sanitation. 

As a result of the persistent efforts of the Medical De- 



262 OUR UNITED STATES 

partment in the prevention of disease, there has been a 
gradual reduction in the death rate which in 1906 was 
3.28 per thousand of mean strength for the Army, the 
lowest attained since the occupation of tropical countries, 
while in the United States proper the rate was 2.84, the 
lowest ever attained in the history of the Army. 

Following closely upon this extraordinary work of the 
Medical Corps of the Army is the especially important 
labours of Major Frederick F. Russell of the Medical 
Corps in regard to the anti-typhoid vaccination. 

Major Russell is practically a pioneer in this work in 
this country and has done substantially all of the work 
which has been so far accomplished along this line in the 
United States. 

In his report of the Results of anti-typhoid Vaccina- 
tion in the Army in 1911, and its suitability for use in 
civil communities. Major Russell modestly sets forth the 
results of his experience. 

"A great part of the work of introducing this form 
of prophylaxis has fallen on my shoulders," he writes, 
in his report of 1911, "but, without the active interest 
and energetic support of the Surgeon General, and the 
loyal co-operation of every member of the medical corps, 
little or nothing could have been accomplished. 

"In the Army, during times of peace," he continues, 
"our posts are like small communities, with their own 
water supplies, sewerage systems and organized adminis- 
tration of community affairs. So long as troops are in 
garrison they have no more disease than exists in the 
adjoining communities. We are, however, not content 
with this condition of safety, but must descend from our 
fastnesses, and in the absence of real war, engage in 
mimic battles and campaigns. From the purely military 
point of view these movements are manoeuvres, not war, 



ARMY 263 

but from the standpoint of health and disease there 
exists the same real danger as in actual war. As the 
.Medical Corps is charged with the preservation of the 
health of the Army, we have endeavored to protect it 
against typhoid, not merely in garrison, but also in the 
field, in campaign and on the march. 

"Our knowledge of vaccination against typhoid fever 
begins with the work of Pfeiffer and KoUe, who in 1896, 
immunized two men and made complete and comprehen- 
sive studies of the blood changes following inoculation 
with killed cultures, showing, as far as laboratory 
methods permit, the identity of the immunity following 
an attack of the disease, and the artificial immunity pro- 
duced by inoculation. 

"At about the same time Wright, of London, inoculated 
two men with killed typhoid bacilli, but his main work 
was published in the following year, 1897, when he re- 
ported the successful immunization of seventeen persons. 

"A second period in the history of anti-typhoid vac- 
cination begins with the work of Sir William B. Leish- 
man, in 1904. He took up the subject when Wright left 
the Army, and has remained in charge up to the present 
time. 

"Our own experiences with anti-typhoid vaccination," 
continues Major Russell, "began in 1908, and early in 
1909 we vaccinated all who volunteered. In 1909 we 
immunized 1,887 persons, in 1910, 16,073. For 1911 the 
figures are not yet complete, but are estimated at over 
80,000, making the total number of persons immunised 
approximately 100,000. Over 80 per cent, of these have 
received the full course of three doses. The vaccine has 
been prepared in the laboratory of the Army Medical 
School, and the immunization has been carried on with- 
out accidents. 



264 OUR UNITED STATES 

"The recent mobilization of troops in Texas has 
afforded an exceptional opportunity to test the method 
of individual protection by means of prophylactic vac- 
cination. Large numbers of troops have been vac- 
cinated by the English in South Africa and in India, 
and in the United States during the past two years, but 
this is the first time in the history of the subject that 
vaccination against typhoid has been compulsory. 

"The vaccination of volunteers had been in progress for 
over two years and a small number of men had already 
been protected before orders for mobilization were 
issued. On arrival at the manoeuvre camp all others were 
vaccinated as rapidly as vaccine could be prepared and 
shipped to Texas. In about one month from the be- 
ginning of the movement, the immunization of the entire 
command was completed. The whole program was car- 
ried out under the direction of the Chief Surgeon Colonel 
Birmingham, promptly and systematically and without 
protest, either, in or out of the service, as the idea was 
not new to either officers or men, since some one had 
received the treatment voluntarily at every post in the 
Army during our preliminary campaign. 

"The troops remained in their several camps from 
March 10, 1911, to the middle of July, a period of ap- 
proximately four months, and during that time there 
were two cases of typhoid with no deaths." 

Thus briefly does Major Russell summarize the re- 
markable results of his unique labors. 

The problem of successful anti-typhoid vaccination 
has been adopted by the leading medical men in civil 
life throughout the world. These instances of effici- 
ency and original work in fields of usefulness to man- 
kind are but examples of the varied and important labors 
of the Army Medical Corps of the United States. 



CHAPTER XV 
The Panama Canal 

The desire for a shorter route to the far East was the 
motive which prompted the journey of Columbus and 
the discovery of America. His ambition to find a pass- 
age somewhere in the narrow neck of land connecting 
the continents of North and South America was the 
object of a subsequent journey when he skirted the 
coast of Darien in 1502 and 1503 but was compelled to 
abandon his search owing to the mutinous conduct of his 
crew. 

Vasco Nunez de Balboa, after suffering incredible 
hardships from the rugged nature of the country and 
the hostility of the inhabitants, at last reached the Pacific 
Ocean in 1531. 

An early Spanish governor of the colony established 
on the Caribbean side, Pedro Arias de Avila by name, 
pushed his way across the Isthmus and in 1516 claimed 
possession in behalf of Spain and named a small fishing 
village which he had reached on the Pacific side, Panama, 
the local Indian name for fisherman. 

Three years later Pedrarias founded the old city of 
Panama which with rapid strides became a city of first 
importance in Spanish American control. It was the 
foremost shipping centre of Latin America, through 
which flowed the vast wealth of gold, silver and precious 
stones despoiled from the Inca temples of Peru, and 

265 



266 OUR UNITED STATES 

the distributing centre of the north and south of the 
exports from the mother country of Spain. Across the 
stone-paved highways, through the tropical jungle, from 
Porto Bello on the Caribbean side to Panama, the rich 
pack trains moved in a continuous line and enriched 
the commerce of the Spanish world for a period of two 
hundred years. 

The idea of a canal took birth early in the sixteenth 
century and a Spanish Engineer of renown named Saa- 
vedra advocated the plan as early as 1617. 

In the reign of Charles the V of Spain, surveys were 
ordered, but the feasibility of such a plan was reported 
in the negative. Phillip II, successor to Charles V, 
sent an engineer in 1567 to survey the Nicaragua route, 
but his report was also unfavourable to the success of the 
project. 

In his disappointment at this adverse opinion, Philip 
consulted the Dominican friars, who, anxious to curry 
favor with the King, yet unable to report intelligently 
on such a problem, gravely sought refuge in the Bible, 
and quoted the following verse, as bearing directly on 
the project of the Isthmian Canal: 

**What God hath joined together, let no man put 
asunder." 

King Philip meekly bowed before the superior decree, 
abandoned his cherished ambition and for a period of 
two hundred years his successors abided in good faith by 
the justice of the friars' biblical application. 

In 1814 the waning prestige of Spanish rule gave a 
rebirth to the commercial benefits to be derived from a 
canal and Spain entered upon a decree for the construc- 
tion of such a waterway, but the independence of her 
Central and South American colonies was soon after 
declared, and resulted in throwing off the yoke of Spain, 



ARMY 267 

likewise ending Spanish interest in the problem of a 

canal. 

. In the latter part of the eighteenth century and the 

decade following, England showed her desire to advance 

her commercial interests, and had under Lord Nelson 

and Baron von Humboldt, made researches and reports 

on the Nicaragua and other routes. 

A Frenchman, Baron Thierry, secured a franchise 
from President Bolira of the Republic of New Grenada, 
in 1825, for the construction of a canal, but for the lack 
of funds was obliged to forego the undertaking. A Brit- 
ish engineer, Mr. J. A. Lloyd, was then commissioned 
by the Republic of Grenada to survey the Isthmus for 
a road or a canal. 

The awakening of the United States to the importance 
of such a project was due primarily to Henry Clay, 
who, in the year 1835, introduced into the Senate a reso- 
lution, the result of which prompted President Jackson 
to commission Mr. Charles Biddle to visit and report on 
the availability of the different routes. 

The financial panic of 1837 placed the United States 
in a position where such a tremendous undertaking could 
no longer be considered and the matter was dropped. 

The French meanwhile had become active and a com- 
pany had secured a grant in 1838 for the construction 
of highways, railroads or a canal across the Isthmus. 
Napoleon Garella, a French engineer, was commissioned 
by the Government to report on the enterprise, and he 
favored a canal as the only permanent and successful 
communication across the Isthmus. Lack of financial 
backing for so gigantic an enterprise caused the abandon- 
ment of the concession. 

The United States renewed her interest in the project 
following the settlement of the Northwest boundary 



268 OUR UNITED STATES 

question, by which we came into possession of Oregon, 
and by the Mexican War which extended our domain 
to the Pacific coast, including the territory north of the 
Rio Grande, and the state of CaHfornia. 

Communication overland to the Pacific coast was costly, 
difficult and beset with dangers, the long sea route via 
Cape Horn was also tedious and unduly long, there- 
fore the Isthmus became once more the centre of trans- 
portation and three enterprising North Americans, 
Messrs. Aspinwall, Stephens and Chauncey, secured a 
very advantageous franchise from the government of 
New Grenada in the year 1848 for the purpose of con- 
structing a railroad from Aspinwall (now Colon) to 
Panama. 

The discovery of gold in California and the rush of 
the Forty-niners by way of steamer to the Isthmus and 
from the Isthmus to California and Oregon added im- 
petus to the construction of the famous Panama Rail- 
road, which was opened to the traffic of the world in 
1855. 

A first-class fare across the Isthmus in those early 
days cost $25, over 50 cents a mile for a four-hour jour- 
ney. The present rate is $2.40 and the time occupied 
in the journey is two hours and a quarter. 

"From 1835 to 1895 inclusive," writes Mr. H. H. 
Rousseau, civil engineer U. S. Navy, member of the 
Isthmian Canal Commission, "the railroad company paid 
dividends in stock and cash amounting to $37,800,000 or 
over 600 per cent, and averaging a little less than 15 per 
cent, per annum. 

"Railroad communication across the Isthmus was now 
finally established," he continues, "and the construction 
of a canal was relegated to the background, so far as 
the territory controlled by the Panama Railroad was con- 



ARMY 269 

cerned. Meanwhile other canal routes were explored 
by a small army of promoters." 

Altogether nineteen different routes have been sug- 
gested and received more or less attention. Of these, the 
Tehuantepec, Nicaragua, Panama, and Darien projects 
are the most important, and Nicaragua has been Pana- 
ma's principal rival in the last thirty years. 

Favorable as were the privileges conceded to the 
Panama Railroad Company, it was the general public 
opinion that it failed to satisfy the requirements of inter- 
oceanic communication. In 1869 President Grant insti- 
gated an interoceanic canal commission which resulted 
in a series of surveys by Army and Navy Engineers 
which were carried on for a period of years. 

In 1870 a treaty was signed between the United States 
of Colombia and our government providing that the work 
would be undertaken if a satisfactory route could be sur- 
veyed. The commission reported favorably on the 
Nicaragua route in 1876, but Congress failed to promote 
the enterprise and the United States temporarily lost its 
opportunity. 

Meanwhile representatives of France stepped in, 
organized the Universal Interoceanic Canal Company 
with Ferdinand de Lesseps at its head and incorporated 
in Paris during the year 1878. 

Concessions from the United States of Colombia were 
secured by De Lesseps, who advocated the Panama route 
at the International Congress of Surveys for an Inter- 
oceanic Canal which met in Paris in 1879. The project 
now took definite shape and for a period of twenty-eight 
years — until 1904, remained under the direction of the 
French. The control of the Panama Railroad Company 
was secured at a high figure. 

The prestige of De Lesseps, who advocated a sea level 



270 OUR UNITED STATES 

type as the successful engineer of the Suez Canal, caused 
the stock of the new company to be eagerly seized upon 
as a mine of treasure. The French middle class, in their 
idolatrous worship of Le Grand Homme de France, 
placed their life savings in perfect faith and eagerness 
in the stupendous scheme, which was to permanently 
enrich them. Hardly had the work begun when the 
havoc of malarial and yellow fever on the canal zone 
reached a tremendous mortality. 

Work proceeded slowly and steadily in the face of 
great obstacles, but subscriptions began to dwindle, until 
in the year 1887 it became evident that to continue the 
work on its present financial basis would be impossible. 
Tremendous expense involved in certain engineering 
changes found necessary as the work advanced caused 
discredit to fall upon the company and two years later 
it went into bankruptcy. 

Over $260,000,000 of French money had been sunk 
in the great ditch at a cost of excavation of $4 per cubic 
yard. 

"The New Panama Canal Company was formed in 
October, 1894," writes Rousseau, "and resumed oper- 
ations on the canal, principally in Culebra cut, in accord- 
ance with plans recommended by a commission of 
engineers. This company continued to do sufficient work 
to maintain its franchise until all of its rights and prop- 
erty were transferred to the United States Government 
in 1904. It excavated about 11,400,000 cubic yards. 
During this time, also, very thorough investigations of 
all engineering matters pertaining to the construction of 
the canal were made, which have since proved of great 
value. 

"Progress having practically ceased at Panama under 



ARMY 271 

the new French Canal Company, to meet the growing 
sentiment in favor of more satisfactory inter-oceanic 
communication, on March 3, 1899, the Congress of the 
United States passed an act authorizing the President to 
make full and complete investigations of the Isthmus of 
Panama, with a view to the construction of a canal to 
connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This marks 
the opening of the last chapter in the construction of the 
Panama Canal," continues Rousseau, "the end of which 
is now, by the early completion of the canal, in sight. 
The commission (of which Admiral John G. Walker was 
chairman) appointed in accordance with the above act, 
was called upon to investigate particularly the Nicaragua 
and the Panama routes, and to report which was more 
practicable and feasible and the cost. In November, 
1901, it reported in favor of the Nicaragua route, con- 
sidering the demands of the New Panama Canal Com- 
pany for its franchise and property more than balanced 
the other advantages of the Panama route. The price 
fixed by the Panama Canal Company was $109,000,000. 
By subsequent negotiations the French company was 
induced to reduce its price to $40,000,000, and the com- 
mission in January, 1902, submitted a supplemental 
report in favour of the Panama route. The plan recom- 
mended by the commission was for a lock canal, with a 
sea-level channel from Colon to Bohio. A dam at Bohio, 
across the Chagres Valley, was to create a summit level 
82 to 90 feet above the sea, to be reached by two locks. 
The lake extended to Pedro Miguel, where two locks 
lowered the level to 28 feet above sea level. At Mira- 
flores, sea level was reached through a third lock. The 
bottom width was to be 150 feet, except in Panama Bay, 
where it was 200 feet, and in Limon Bay, 500 feet, with 



272 OUR UNITED STATES 

turning basins 800 feet wide. The minimum depth was 
35 feet. The locks were to be 740 feet long and 84 
feet wide. 

"In accordance with this report, act of Congress of 
June 28, 1902, known since as the 'Spooner Act,' author- 
ized the President of the United States to proceed with 
the construction of a canal by the Panama route, pro- 
vided arrangements could be made with the New Pana- 
ma Canal Company for the purchase of its property and 
franchise for not exceeding $40,000,000, and provided 
arrangements could be made with the Republic of Colom- 
bia for the control of the necessary right of way. In 
the event of failure of these negotiations, the Nicaragua 
route was to be adopted. The law provided that the 
canal should be *of sufficient capacity and depth as shall 
afford convenient passage for vessels of the largest ton- 
nage and greatest draft now in use and such as may be 
reasonably anticipated.' 

"Satisfactory arrangements were completed for the 
purchase of the French company's right, etc., for $40,- 
000,000, and negotiations with the Republic of Colombia 
were carried on to secure other necessary rights and 
privileges not held by the French company. After a 
long delay, a satisfactory treaty was formulated, which 
was rejected by Colombia in 1903. 

"The province of Panama, an integral part of Colom- 
bia, thereupon seceded and organized an independent 
republic with an area of about 31,000 square miles and 
a population which at present is stated to be 419,000. 
This resulted in the negotiation of a satisfactory treaty 
with the new Republic of Panama, including the payment, 
under certain terms, of $10,000,000 by the United States 
to the Republic of Panama and an annual payment of 
$250,000 beginning nine years after the signing of the 



ARMY 273 

treaty. Under this treaty the United States guaranteed 
the independence of the RepubHc of Panama and secured 
absolute control over what is now called the Canal Zone, 
a strip of land about 10 miles in width, with the canal 
through the centre, and 45 miles in length from sea to sea, 
with an area of about 448 square miles. The United 
States also has jurisdiction over the adjacent water for 
3 miles from shore. To all intents and purposes it is 
a perpetual lease from the Republic of Panama to the 
United States of all governmental rights and privileges 
in this territory, and yet, strictly speaking, it is not United 
States soil, for residents therein acquire no rights of 
United States citizenship and have no voice in United 
States elections, while citizens of the Republic of Panama 
residing in the Canal Zone are protected in their electoral 
rights and are accustomed to go to Panama and Colon 
to vote in the Panama elections." 

"Six days after promulgation of the treaty," writes 
John Barrett, Director General of the Pan American 
Union, ''President Roosevelt, acting under authority of 
the Spooner Act, appointed the body known as the Isth- 
mian Canal Commission to have charge of canal con- 
struction. The appointment was confirmed by the Sen- 
ate on the 3rd of March, 1904. Of the seven members 
of which it was composed, Rear- Admiral John G. Walker 
(the same who had served on the earlier commission) 
was made Chairman and Maj.-Gen. George W. Davis, 
Civil Governor of the Canal Zone. They reached the 
Isthmus on the 17th of May and two days later, by an 
appropriate proclamation, took formal possession in the 
name of the United States. On the 1st of June, 1904, 
John Findley Wallace, formerly general manager of the 
Illinois Central Railroad, was appointed Engineer in 
Chief and repaired at once to the Isthmus. There also 



274 OUR UNITED STATES 

went Col. C. Gorgas, who had been health officer at Ha- 
vana, Cuba, during the occupation by the United States 
troops following the Spanish War, and, with the prelim- 
inary operations on the canal itself, the all-important 
work of sanitation was begun. 

"In the fall of 1904," continues Barrett, "I was United 
States minister to Panama. William H. Taft, then 
Secretary of War, visited the Isthmus, accompanied by 
William Nelson Cromwell and Charles E. Magoon for 
the purpose of adjusting many delicate and important 
questions which had naturally arisen between the Gov- 
ernment of Panama and that of the Canal Zone. These 
three assisted by Governor Davis and myself held numer- 
ous conferences with President Amador Guerrero of 
Panama and members of his cabinet until all questions at 
issue were satisfactorily settled. In these discussions the 
great tact, amiability and judgment of Mr. Taft were 
most potent factors for a harmonious agreement. 

"The commission was reorganized by executive order 
of April 1, 1905. In the new personnel, Theodore P. 
Shonts became Chairman of the Commission, and John F. 
Wallace was appointed Chief Engineer and Charles E. 
Magoon, Civil Governor. The other members were Ad- 
miral Mordecai T. Endicott, Gen. Peter C. Haines, Col. 
Ernst, and Benjamin M. Harrod. On the 28th of June 
of the same year, Mr. Wallace resigned and was suc- 
ceeded by John F, Stevens, who entered upon his new 
duties on the 1st of July, 1905. Later, by order of 
March 4, 1907, he was made Chairman of the Commis- 
sion in the place of Mr. Shonts, who had resigned, and 
Col. George Washington Goethals, of the Army Engin- 
eer Corps, was appointed to the vacancy. Mr. Stevens, 
in turn, resigned on the 3rd of March, 1907, whereupon 
the Government determined to take over the work itself, 



ARMY 275 

and on the 1st of April, 1907, Col. Goethals was appointed 
Chairman and Chief Engineer. By a further order, 
dated the next day, he was also made Civil Governor of 
the Canal Zone. Other appointments to the Commis- 
sion included Col. H. F. Hodges, Lieut.-Col. D. D. Gail- 
lard, Lieut.-Col. William L. Sibert, Civil Engineer H. H. 
Rousseau of the Navy, Col. W. C. Gorgas, Maurice H. 
Thatcher, and Joseph Buckin Bishop, Secretary." . 

The vexations which had perplexed the President 
under the civil control of the work of constructing the 
Panama Canal practically ceased when it was finally 
turned over to military administration. As a contem- 
porary writer has remarked, the President had the satis- 
faction of knowing that the Army Engineers zvould not 
resign — they were moreover used to Governmental red 
tape, to the delays incident to Congressional legislation, 
to the thousand and one slow and ponderous revolutions 
necessary in the machinery of the Government for the 
simplest requisitions. Again, the discipline of mind and 
body so justly a subject of pride in the military estab- 
lished served to curb dissatisfaction, to stem unrest, and 
to direct under a logical and well ordered system of 
operations. 

The first two years and a half after the transfer of the 
property of the French Canal Company to the United 
States had been devoted to the work of preparation "con- 
sisting of building up a suitable organization ; procuring 
the necessary plant and equipment; combating insani- 
tary conditions, eliminating yellow fever, and reducing 
malaria; reconstructing and double tracking the Panama 
Railroad ; improving terminal facilities, and making pro- 
vision for adequate and efficient transportation to the 
Isthmus from the United States, a large item in itself ; 
the design and building suitable quarters for the army of 



276 OUR UNITED STATES 

nearly 5,000 American employes and over 25,000 labor- 
ers; introducing a stable form of civil government and 
administration, including courts, schools, police, fire de- 
partment, etc. — in other words, doing everything neces- 
sary to transform the jungle, infested with mosquitoes 
and various low forms of animal and vegetable life, 
injurious to health, into a comparatively healthful coun- 
try with all the advantages and conveniences and equiva- 
lent conditions of life as regards comfort, food, and 
quarters, as are enjoyed by the average citizen in the 
United States. All of this took time and a great deal 
of money, but it has resulted in advancing the condition 
and developing the territory in question, which was prac- 
tically in the same state that it was in the sixteenth cen- 
tury, to the plane of twentieth century civilization — and 
all in two and one-half years. 

"Attention was early drawn to the unsanitary condition 
of the cities of Panama and Colon," writes Rousseau, 
"and it was soon perceived that if a pestilence should 
obtain a foothold in those cities it would seriously affect 
canal work. To eliminate this danger, Panama has been 
provided with substantial brick pavements, has been well- 
sewered and furnished with a supply of wholesome drink- 
ing water. The city of Colon has been transformed from 
a swamp into a town likewise comparable with a city 
of the same size in the United States, so far as pave- 
ments, water supply and sewers are concerned. 

"During the period of preparation, work was not 
neglected on the canal excavation, and every effort was 
made to make the 'dirt fly.' At first, the only tools avail- 
able were some old French excavators, locomotives, 
dump cars, and drills. Modern American equipment, 
consisting of dredges, steam shovels, cars, locomotives, 



ARMY 277 

etc., was put into service as fast as it could be pur- 
chased and hurried down to the Isthmus. 

"On June 29, 1906, the construction of a lock type of 
canal was authorized by Congress. The 85-foot lock 
canal which is being built consists of a sea-level entrance 
channel 7 miles long and 500 feet wide on the Atlantic 
side to the foot of Gatun locks. On the Pacific side there 
is a corresponding sea-level channel to Miraflores nearly 
8 miles long. For 15 of the 50 miles the canal will be 
at sea-level. At Gatun the 85- foot lake level is obtained 
by a great dam. The lake is confined on the Pacific side 
by a smaller dam between the hills of Pedro Miguel, 32 
miles away. These two dams make a great lake 85 feet 
above sea level, with an area of 164 square miles. Ships 
pass from the sea level to the lake level, and vice versa, 
at Gatun by a series of adjoining locks, 'in flight,' as it is 
called, three in all, each with lifts varying from 25.2 to 
30.3 feet, depending upon the height of water in the 
lake and the state of the tide. The locks are in duplicate. 
On the Pacific side Pedro Miguel, instead of dropping 
down at once to the sea level, there is one lift, with 
duplicate locks, by which vessels are lowered to a small 
lake called Miraflores Lake, which is 54 2/3 feet above 
the mean level of the Pacific Ocean. One mile from 
Pedro Miguel, through Miraflores Lake, are the Mira- 
flores locks, where by two lifts with locks in duplicate, 
vessels reach sea level on the Pacific side. 

"From deep water to deep water the distance is about 
50 miles, and it is expected that a vessel can easily make 
the transit within less than twelve hours." 

Certain modifications of these general plans have taken 
place as the work has progressed— the size and capacity 
of the canal has been increased to meet the requirements 



278 OUR UNITED STATES 

of war vessels whose dimensions and displacement have 
materially increased during the last few years. 

The Panama Railroad Company was under direct 
charge of a General Superintendent. All of the work of 
the Commission and the Panama Railroad Company was 
under the complete and direct control of the Chairman 
and Chief Engineer of the Commission, who was also 
president of the railroad. ''This fact," remarks Rous- 
seau, ''contributed very largely to the efficiency and the 
smooth, steady progress of the work." 

The plan of organization of the Engineering Depart- 
ment divided all construction work into three geographi- 
cal districts, each under a Division Engineer with full 
control over and responsibility for all engineering work 
in his district. These divisions were : 

(1) The Atlantic Division, extending from deep 
water to Gatun Lake, including the Gatun locks and 
dam. 

(2) The Central Division, extending from Gatun to 
Pedro Miguel. 

(3) The Pacific Division, extending from Pedro 
Miguel to deep water in the Pacific Ocean. 

In general, the work may be divided into three classes : 

(1) Wet excavation, viz., excavation performed by 
dredges. This amounts to about 12 per cent, of the total 
work. 

(2) Dry excavation. This includes all material 
(rock and earth) removed by steam shovels, and other 
power excavators, or by pick and shovel. This com- 
prises 49 per cent, of the work. 

(3) The third class of work covered the construction 
of locks, dams, and spillways. The dams make the 
lakes, the locks enable vessels to pass from sea level to 
lake level, or vice versa, and the spillways take care of 



ARMY 279 

the overflow from the lakes. These comprised 39 per 
cent, of the canal construction work. 

A brief description of the different classes according 
to Mr. H. H. Rousseau (in his report in 1910) follows: 

(1) Wet or dredging excavation amounts to about 
73,000,000 cubic yards. One million yards is contained 
in a cube 300 feet on each side, 73,000,000 would be 
equivalent to a cube measuring about a quarter of a mile 
on one side. It consists of soft silt, earth, clay, coral, 
and hard rock. From 12 to 14 dredges are kept at work, 
and their monthly output is not far from 1,300,000 cubic 
yards. They include two new sea-going suction dredges, 
the Culebra and Caribbean, of a type common in the 
United States, that draw the material up into bins in 
their own hulls by centrifugal pumps. When these bins 
are full, they steam to the dumping grounds, empty by 
opening bottom gates, and return for another load. 
These dredges work night and day, stopping only for fuel 
and repairs. Owing to their method of operation and 
the material they handle, they have the largest output at 
the least unit cost of any of the dredges. Upon the com- 
pletion of the canal it is expected that these dredges will 
be kept on the Isthmus for use on any small amounts 
of dredging that might be required for maintenance work. 

"To the casual visitor to the Isthmus," comments Rous- 
seau, "operations in connection with dry excavations are 
the most spectacular and interesting of any work in 
progress. The methods are somewhat similar to those 
in use in the United States, but nowhere else in the world 
have excavating operations been carried on on such a 
large scale and in the precise manner followed on the 
Isthmus." 

The various excavating operations are successively as 
follows: Drilling, blasting, loading, transporting, and 



280 OUR UNITED STATES 

dumping. Tripod drills are used for shallow holes ; 
well or chum drills for the deeper holes ; and hand drill- 
ing only for a few isolated holes. Compressed air fur- 
nishes the power to the drills at 80 pounds pressure. 
Each shovel is preceded by a battery of from 4 to 12 
drills, covering a field from 30 to 40 feet wide, which 
keeps well ahead of the shovel. Holes are drilled from 
15 to 30 feet deep and from 6 to 16 feet apart depending 
upon the material and conditions. Each hole is loaded 
with a charge of from 75 to 200 pounds of dynamite, 45 
and 60 per cent, dynamite being used principally. One 
million pounds of dynamite are being used monthly. 
After being loaded, the holes are connected up in parallel 
and discharged by electric current. While the greatest 
care practicable is taken in all operations connected with 
the handling of dynamite, a number of accidents have 
occurred and a number of lives have been lost, mostly 
alien laborers. 

In order to be on the safe side no holes are loaded 
now which cannot be fired the same day. The large 
blasts break the rock into fragments small enough to be 
handled by the steam shovels. Any large pieces are 
broken into smaller fragments after the main blast by 
what are called 'dobie* blasts, consisting of a small quan- 
tity of dynamite laid on the surface of the rock, covered 
with clay and discharged by fuse. Power to run the 
drills is furnished by one of the largest air plants and 
longest supply mains in the world. The smaller size 
steam shovels weigh 70 tons and have 2^ yard dippers, 
and the large size shovels 95 tons and are equipped with 
4 and 5 yard dippers. They are self-propelling and are 
able to make a cut over 20 feet deep. There are 100 
in all. 

The working day for the shovel is eight hours — from 



ARMY 281 

7 to 11 and from 1 to 5. At 5 o'clock the various supply 
and repair trains start out promptly from the different 
yards for the 'cut/ where they spend the night making 
repairs, and getting ready for the next day's work. This 
consists in supplying each shovel with a ton and a half 
or so of coal, with oil and other supplies. Repair gangs 
are required to make all the necessary adjustments and 
repairs so that the shovel can begin digging at 7 o'clock 
the next morning. 

The large shops at Empire, where 600 men are em- 
ployed, are devoted to repairs of steam shovels and steam 
shovel parts. Repair parts are purchased in the United 
States unless they can be manufactured more cheaply 
on the Isthmus. The greater part of the excavated 
material is loaded into long, flat wooden cars with one 
high side, called 'Lodgerwood flats.' One thousand 
eight hundred of these cars have been purchased. Orig- 
inally there were 16 cars to the train. It has since been 
found practicable to increase the number to 18 and 19. 
Each car has a capacity of from 18 to 20 cubic yards, 
or about 350 cubic yards to the train, making a load of 
about 500 tons. Each shovel is able on an average to 
load from three to four trains a day. 

Locomotives are housed at night in engine houses at 
various points along the line, where they are coaled and 
given light running repairs. Every morning they begin 
to leave the engine houses promptly at 6.30, and in five 
minutes the 30 or 40 locomotives have departed. One 
hundred and sixty large American locomotives have been 
purchased by the commission. In addition the Panama 
Railroad has 82 locomotives and about 130 old French 
locomotives have been repaired and put into commission 
service. 

The number of cars in use by the commission is nearly 



282 OUR UNITED STATES 

4,500 and in addition there are a large number of un- 
loaders, plows, spreaders, track shifters, cranes, pile 
drivers, and smaller pieces of miscellaneous equipment. 
Locomotives, cars, and other equipment, except steam 
shovels, are repaired at the Gorgona shops, where a 
force of 1,000 men are employed. The French company- 
started these shops, which have since been rebuilt and 
enlarged. An iron foundry and a brass foundry are 
also located at the Gorgona shops. 

The locks and the spillways may be described generally 
as appurtenances of the dam. The spillway consists of 
a concrete-lined opening cut through a hill of rock along 
the line of the dam near the centre, supplied with gates 
of suitable design to allow the lake level to be regulated. 
The locks are built in an excavation at the east end of 
the dam, in rock, and afford means for passing vessels 
in and out of the lake on the Atlantic side. 

The dam proper is about 9,000 feet long over all, 
measured on its crest, including locks and spillway, and 
for only 500 feet of this length will it be subjected to a 
pressure of 85 feet of water, as the natural surface on 
which it is built rises rapidly after passing by the old 
bed of the Chargres River. For only about half of its 
length will the head of water on the dam be over 50 
feet. Hard rock underlies the dam near the surface of 
the ground except for about one-fifth of its length, where 
the rock dips down to a minimum depth below sea level 
of from 195 feet in the depression east of the spillway 
to 255 feet in that west of the spillway. These depres- 
sions or valleys have during past ages filled up, and 
measured from sea level down, the first 80 feet consists 
of sand and clay ; the next 100 feet or so is of stiff blue 
clay ; the last 20 to 50 feet is a conglomerate compost of 
sand, shell, and stone. This material is all impervious 



ARMY 283 

and of sufficient bearing capacity to support the dam, 
and thus fulfils the essential requirements. The entire 
area to be covered by the dam and adjacent territory has 
been probably more carefully examined by borings, test 
pits, etc., than that for any other similar structure. 

The Gatun locks are in pairs each having a width of 
110 feet and a usable length of 1,000 feet. Each lock 
consists of a chamber, with walls and bottom of con- 
crete, and with water-tight gates at the ends. The level 
of water in the locks is regulated through openings in 
the bottom, by the operation of valves in the side and 
centre walls, which permit water to flow into and out of 
the locks by gravity. These locks are the largest that 
have ever been designed. 

The controlling principles which have been followed 
in the design of the locks have been : 

First, to make them safe ; and, second, to make them 
adequate in size and arrangements. 

The gates consist of two leaves and are massive steel 
structures, each leaf being 7 feet thick and 65 feet long. 
The leaves for different locks vary in height from 47 to 
82 feet. They will weigh from 400 to 750 tons each. 
Ninety-two leaves will be required for the entire canal, 
the total weighing 58,000 tons. 

Electricity will be used not only to tow vessels through 
the locks, but also to operate all the gates, valves, emer- 
gency dams, etc., power being generated by water tur- 
bines from the head created by Gatun Lake. 

The floor of the locks at Gatun rests upon either the 
sandstone or conglomerate, and there will be a thickness 
of not less than 20 feet of concrete, or concrete and hard, 
impermeable rock between the bottom of the locks and 
the water-bearing sand stone. 

Concrete curtain walls 6 feet thick and from 8 to 18 



284 OUR UNITED STATES 

feet below sea level are built around the upper locks, 
from the sill of the emergency dam to the lower end of 
the intermediate gate abutments, to act as a water cut-off 
where the concrete is less than 20 feet in thickness, and 
old French rails have been embedded in the underlying 
rock to act as anchors for the concrete, tying it to the 
portion of the rock which acts as the floor. 

At Pedro Miguel there is to be a single set of locks 
with one lift of 30 feet. The locks are similar to the 
Gatun locks in design. 

At Miraflores there is to be a flight of locks in pairs, 
with two lifts of 27}^ feet each (at mean tide). The 
dams extend from the upper ends of the locks to the 
nearest hill on each side. 

*Tf one has time," writes Mr. Barrett, "before cross- 
ing the Isthmus or after he returns from Panama to go 
about Colon and Cristobal, he should visit the great plant 
of the Quartermaster and Subsistence Departments 
under charge of Col. C. A. Devol, Chief Quartermaster 
and Lieut.-Col. Eugene T. Wilson, Subsistence Oflicer, 
from which each day go out the food and supplies for 
45,000 employes and the stores and materials to keep 
the vast work proceeding without a break." 

The Quarter Master's Department performs all duties 
in connection with the recruiting of laborers, the hous- 
ing of employes, the construction and repair of build- 
ings, the purchase of material on the Isthmus, the custody 
and issue of all material from storehouses, and the sup- 
plying of animal transportation. 

Under executive order no one not an American citizen 
can be employed on the gold roll. They are all furnished 
with suitable quarters. 

The cost of constructing quarters for bachelors aver- 
ages from $350 to $500 per man, and for families, $1,200 



ARMY 285 

up. In addition to quarters, the Commission furnishes 
employes electric light, certain furniture, coal for kitchen 
stoves, distilled water and medical service without 
charge. 

The number of silver employes on the average in 
any one month is much greater than the number working 
on any one day. The average West Indian laborer will 
not work as long as he has a dollar in his pocket, and it 
is a common saying that if such a laborer's pay is 
doubled he will only work half as many days. Silver 
employes are housed generally in barracks, which, on an 
average at the present time, contain from 20 to 30 men. 

There has been a movement among the West Indian 
laborers to go into the ''bush," where they put up a 
small shack, cultivate a small plot of ground, and feel 
thoroughly contented and comfortable, housing and feed- 
ing themselves independently of the Commission. 

The labor problem is one of the most difficult to solve 
on any construction work in the Tropics. In the early 
fifties the construction of the Panama Railroad was 
greatly handicapped by lack of suitable labor. The 
French met the same difficulty, and since the American 
occupation the problem of getting labor, training it, and 
keeping it at work has been paramount. The greatest 
success has been attained through importing European 
labourers to compete with and set the pace for the West 
Indian laborers. West Indian laborers have been 
recruited from Guadaloupe, Martinique, Trinidad and 
St. Kitts. 

The Department of Examination of Accounts and Dis- 
bursements, the Mechanical Division, and in the United 
States the Purchasing Department all form a part of the 
Department of Construction and Engineering on the 
Isthmus. 



286 OUR UNITED STATES 

The Disbursing Officer is the pay officer. The Isth- 
mian pay rolls average about $1,500,000 per month. 
American employes and European laborers are paid in 
gold. West Indian laborers are paid in silver. Over 
42 tons of silver are paid out monthly. The pay train 
travels over the Isthmus once a month, from $400,000 
to $450,000 of the monthly earnings of employes are 
used to purchase money orders on the United States and 
elsewhere. 

The Examiner of Accounts has charge of the general 
books of the commission and, with his force of 115 men, 
classifies all expenditures; handles the accounting for 
coupon books, and meal tickets ; examines claims and 
accounts presented for payment and prepares the proper 
vouchers; makes a monthly administrative examination 
of the Disbursing Officer's accounts and counts the cash 
in the hands of the Disbursing Officer every six months ; 
inspects the books and accounts of all employes hand- 
ling money and coupon books ; checks all pay rolls ; exam- 
ines and checks daily, time books of all hourly employes; 
reports misconduct of employes, misuse of property 
and violation of rules and regulations in connection with 
the efficient and economical application of labour and 
material, handles employes' injury claims, and audits 
accounts of all revenue officers. 

The life of Americans on the Isthmus has become 
established in grooves corresponding very closely to life 
in the United States. The Y. M. C. A. club houses in the 
larger settlements afford recreation and there are social 
and other organizations of the same character as are to 
be found in the United States. There are over 1,500 
American women who are sharing alike the comforts and 
discomforts of Isthmian life with their husbands, and 
about the same number of American children, not 



ARMY 287 

including wives and children of Panama Railroad 
employes. 

In 1906 a large hotel, the well-known Tivoli Hotel, was 
constructed at Ancon. This hotel is a rendezvous for 
all Americans on the Isthmus. It is operated by the 
Subsistence Department so as to be self-supporting — and 
the charges are in accordance with this requirement. 

The cold-storage plant in Colon is operated by the 
Commissary Department, and a trip through this plant 
gives one a very good idea of the scale of operations on 
the Isthmus. From 75 to 80 tons of ice are made daily, 
which is sold at the rate of 40 cents a hundred pounds. 
The cold-storage supply of meats, vegetables, etc., is kept 
in this plant, and shipments are made daily along the line 
amounting to nearly 100 tons per day, including ice. 

The daily output of the bakery is 13,000 loaves of 
bread, 2,400 rolls, 290 pies, 625 g^punds of roasted cofifee, 
450 pounds of cake. 

In the laundry 7,500 pieces are daily washed and 
ironed. 

The foregoing represents, generally, the organization 
of the Department of Construction and Engineering. 
In addition, there are two other co-ordinate departments, 
and the office of the Secretary of the Commission and 
the Panama Railroad and steamship line, all under Col- 
onel Goethals, Chairman of the Commission, the latter 
coming under his jurisdiction in his capacity as Presi- 
dent of the Panama Railroad. 

The Department of Civil Administration was created 
to administer civil government within the Canal Zone; 
that is, it exercises the governmental rights conveyed by 
Panama to the United States in maintaining and protect- 
ing the inhabitants of the Zone in the free enjoyment of 
their liberty, property and religion. The Chairman of 



288 OUR UNITED STATES 

the Commission, in whom is vested, by the President, 
the authority of the chief executive of the Canal Zone, 
has delegated that authority to a member of the Commis- 
sion, who is known as head of the Department of Civil 
Administration. The work of this department is divided 
among the divisions of Posts, Customs and Revenues, 
Police and Prisons, Schools, Fire Protection, and Public 
Works. The offices of Prosecuting Attorney, Treasurer, 
and Auditor of the Canal Zone, and the Judiciary. The 
latter includes the supreme, circuit and district courts of 
the Zone. 

The Division of Public Works has supervision over 
the eight public markets, the two public slaughter houses, 
and the construction and maintenance of roads and trails. 

The wonderful organization and administration of the 
Canal and the Canal Zone which the Great Goethals and 
his efficient staff developed during the years of military 
administration are a conclusive evidence of the value 
of military organization in the handling of public works. 
The Canal, a source of national pride, is a lasting mem- 
orial to the efficiency of the Army officers of the United 
States and a fitting conclusion to the long line of splendid 
achievements in which the trained soldier has led the 
Nation an example for honest administration, prosperity 
and peace. 



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